 Conservation & Efficiency in Commercial Buildings Is LEED the answer?

Commercial Buildings  Energy Used in the Commercial Sector  18.02% of consumption (2011)  New Construction  Approximately $ 165 billion  75% of building stock will be replaced in the next 20 years

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED)  United States Green Building Committee (USGBC)  Nonprofit  “Ecolabel”  Point based system  5 Categories  Sustainable Sites  Water Efficiency  Energy and Atmosphere  Material and Resources  Indoor Environmental Quality

LEED basics  Prerequisites  Required before credits  Credits  Compliance Points  Certification (100 pt. scale)  Certified: points  Silver: points  Gold: points  Platinum: 80+ points  Registration  Submittals  Design phase  Construction phase  Review (after construction)  13,500 certified LEED buildings as of June 2013  Report operations data

Class Simulation  2 Members of LEED  1 Financier  3 Teams  Requirements for Teams  LEED Gold  Budget Costs

Economics  Criticism  Initial Cost  2% more (NRDC)  Fees  Registration fee  Per square foot fee  $35,000 on average  Praise  Life Cycle Cost  Lowered Overhead  More employees and Expand operations  Investment in Emerging Technology

Environmental Effect  Praise  14% generated renewable energy  12% took major steps to reduce water use e.g. treat sewage on site  Increased use of low-flush toilets, low-emitting paints, and materials from sustainably harvested wood  Criticism  Easiest and cheapest points used  No proven environmental benefit  Certified prior to occupancy

Port of Portland Headquarters  Ratings  Forbes rates top 10 high tech buildings  LEED Platinum 

Regulatory Structure  Control and Command  Detailed, legal requirements on sources of pollution  Environmental standards, permit allowances, penalties  Incentives Based  Compliance is optional  Tax breaks, grants, expedited permitting, etc.  Free Market  Purely voluntary compliance  No government regulation  Hybrid  Independent organizations develop standards

Regulatory Reality  Mandatory Regulation  “442 localities state governments... [and] 14 federal agencies or departments” have implemented LEED - USGBC  More than 200 jurisdictions require for new public buildings  Some jurisdictions require for private commercial buildings  Incentives  200 jurisdictions (in conjunction with or in place of LEED)  Tax deduction up to $1.80 per square foot  Tax credit 26 U.S.C. § 48  30% of costs for investing in solar energy  10% of costs for certain geothermal equipment and heat pumps  170 cities give tax breaks, grants, expedited permits, or waivers

The Road Ahead  Positives  Flexibility in standards and process  Innovation in Design  Regional Priorities  Online Submittals  Growing alternatives: Energy Star, Green Globes, GGHC  Government as consumer  Negatives  Government regulation mandating use of LEED  Predicted energy use not equaling actual energy use  Recommended Changes for LEED  More actual energy use data  More aggressive benchmarks The Hybrid Approach