Building Operations

Written by Ken Sidebottom, CEM LEED AP

A BETTER GREEN BUILDING RATING SYSTEM

In the new 2009 (LEED v3) LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, rating system the bar has been raised once again for energy performance. Using the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Building rating system as its basis, LEED EBOM 2009 increases the minimum required score from 69 to 73 for a building seeking LEED Certification. This is just 2-points below the ENERGY STAR Label score of 75 required by the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Building Labeling Program which acknowledges exceptional performance in building energy efficiency.

 

This USGBC adopted EPA Program allows building owners to place an ENERGY STAR Label on their building similar to the Logo prominently displayed on consumer goods that meet the EPA’s requirements for energy efficient products. LEED Prerequisites compliment the ENERGY STAR Labeling Program by validating critical operating characteristics such as minimum levels of Outside Air and Building Occupancy.  Alternative methods of compliance in energy efficiency performance are also available in LEED EBOM 2009 for the other existing building types outside the 12 major building categories defined by ENERGY STAR, which represents about 2/3 of the existing building stock.

In general the reweighting of credit values is the predominant change in LEED EBOM from the 2008 original version to the new LEED 2009 system. Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency and Energy & Atmosphere categories gain points while Materials & Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality categories reduce point values to accommodate the reweighting in LEED 2009. Alternative Transportation and Energy Performance are the big winners when comparing credit level weighting. Green Cleaning and Sustainable Purchasing Programs lost points in their relative importance in sustainability for existing buildings.

LEED CREDIT WEIGHTINGS

In LEED 2009, the allocation of points between credits is based on the potential environmental impacts and human benefits of each credit with respect to a set of impact categories. The impacts are defined as the environmental or human effect of the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the building, such as greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel use, toxins and carcinogens, air and water pollutants, indoor environmental conditions. A combination of approaches, including energy modeling, life-cycle assessment, and transportation analysis, is used to quantify each type of impact. The resulting allocation of points among credits is called credit weighting.

LEED 2009 uses the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPAs) TRACI environmental impact categories as the basis for weighting each credit. TRACI was developed to assist with impact evaluation for life-cycle assessment, industrial ecology, process design, and pollution prevention. LEED 2009 also takes into consideration the weightings developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); these compare impact categories with one another and assign a relative weight to each. Together, these approaches provide a solid foundation for determining the point value of each credit in LEED 2009. Overall, the changes increase the relative emphasis on the reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with building systems, transportation, the embodied energy of water, the embodied energy of materials, and where applicable, solid waste.

The details of the weightings process vary slightly among individual rating systems. For example, LEED EBOM 2009 credits related to solid waste management but LEED BD+C does not. This results in a difference in the portion of the environmental footprint addressed by each rating system and the relative allocation of points.

REGIONAL PRIORITY CREDITS

To provide incentive to address geographically specific environmental issues, USGBC regional councils and chapters have identified 6 credits per rating system that are of particular importance to specific areas. Each regional priority credit is worth an additional 1 point, and a total of 4 regional priority points may be earned on a project. Upon project registration, LEED-Online automatically determines a project’s regional priority credits based on its zip code. If the project achieves more than 4 regional priority credits, the team can choose the credits for which these points will apply. The USGBC website also contains a searchable database of regional priority credits. LEED EBOM has its own set of Regional Priority credits that are available for each Region.

WHEN TO USE LEED EBOM 2009

LEED EBOM 2009 was designed to certify the sustainability of ongoing operations of existing commercial and institutional buildings. All such buildings, as defined by standard building codes, are eligible for certification under LEED EBOM 2009 and include offices, retail and service establishments, institutional buildings (libraries, schools, museums, churches, etc.), hotels and residential buildings of 4 or more habitable stories. LEED EBOM 2009 provides owners and operators of existing buildings an entry point into the LEED certification process and is applicable to the following:

• Building operations, processes, systems upgrades, minor space-use changes, and minor facility alterations or additions; and
• Buildings new to LEED certification as well as Recertification of buildings previously certified under LEED for New Construction, LEED for Schools, or LEED for Core & Shell; these may be either ground up new construction or existing buildings that have undergone major renovations. A previously certified building in LEED for new construction can show improvement or as a minimum retain their original Certification level by using LEED EBOM.

LEED EBOM 2009 encourages owners and operators of existing buildings to implement sustainable practices and reduce the environmental impacts of their buildings over their functional life cycles. Specifically, the rating system addresses exterior building site maintenance programs, water and energy use, environmentally preferred products and practices for cleaning and alterations, sustainable purchasing policies, waste stream management, and ongoing indoor environmental quality. LEED EBOM 2009 is targeted at single buildings, whether owner occupied, multitenant, or multiple-building campus projects. It is a whole-building rating system; individual tenant spaces with a building are ineligible. Many projects neatly fit the defined scope of only 1 LEED rating system; others may be eligible for 2 or more. The project is a viable candidate for LEED certification if it can meet all prerequisites and achieve the minimum points required in a given rating system. If more than 1 rating system applies, the owner and their project team can decide which to pursue.

INITIAL CERTIFICATION AND RECERTIFICATION

To earn LEED certification, the applicant project must first register with GBCI by paying a fee and then satisfy all the prerequisites and qualify for a minimum number of points to attain the established project ratings of Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum. Having satisfied the basic prerequisites of the program, applicant projects are then rated according to their degree of compliance within the rating system point structure. Any first-time certification application to the LEED EBOM 2009 program is considered an initial LEED EBOM 2009 certification. This includes applications for buildings never certified under LEED and buildings previously certified under LEED for New Construction, LEED for Schools, or LEED for Core & Shell. Any LEED EBOM 2009 application for a building previously certified using LEED EBOM 2009 is considered a LEED EBOM 2009 recertification project. These buildings can apply for recertification as frequently as each year but must file for recertification at least once every 5 years to maintain their LEED EBOM Certification status; if projects do not recertify at the 5 year mark, their next application will be considered an initial LEED EBOM certification application. The project must recertify all prerequisites but may drop previously earned credits or add new credits as desired.

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

As with its predecessors, LEED EBOM 2009 certification application includes building and site performance data over the performance period—the continuous, unbroken time during which sustainable operations performance is being measured. The performance period may not have any gaps, defined as any period of time longer than 1 full week. Some prerequisites and credits in LEED 2009 EBOM require that operating data and other documentation be submitted for the performance period. For the initial LEED EBOM 2009 certification, the performance period is the most recent period of operations preceding certification application; it must be a minimum of 3 months for all prerequisites and credits except Energy and Atmosphere Prerequisite 2 and Credit 1, which have longer minimum durations of 1 year. At the project team’s option, the performance period for any prerequisite or credit may be extended to a maximum of 24 months preceding certification application. Consistent start times and durations of the performance periods for each prerequisite and credit are preferred but not strictly necessary. However, all performance periods must overlap and terminate within 1 week of each other. For more information on the Performance Period requirements, see the LEED Reference Guide for Green Building Operations & Maintenance, 2009 Edition.

MULTITENANT BUILDINGS

LEED 2009 EBOM applies only to whole buildings. Multitenant buildings (single buildings that contain floor area under the ownership or tenancy of more than 1 entity) must meet the LEED 2009 EBOM minimum program requirements. That is, the project for a multitenant building must involve at least 90% of the total gross floor space. Calculate project scope floor space by dividing the project’s floor space by the total gross floor space.

FACILITY ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS

Although LEED EBOM 2009 focuses mainly on sustainable ongoing building operations, it also embraces sustainable alterations and new additions to existing buildings. In general industry terms, alterations and additions may range from a complete gutting, major renovation, or large new wing to the replacement of an old window, sheet of drywall, or section of carpet.

In LEED EBOM 2009, however, alterations and additions have a specific meaning. It refers to changes that affect usable space in the building. Mechanical, electrical, or plumbing system upgrades that involve no disruption to usable space are excluded. Only alterations and additions within the following limits are eligible for inclusion in LEED EBOM 2009 certification:

• MAXIMUM. Alterations that affect no more than 50% of the total building floor area or cause relocation of no more than 50% of regular building occupants are eligible. Additions that increase the total building floor area by no more than 50% are eligible. Buildings with alterations or additions exceeding these limits should pursue certification under the LEED BD+C program.
• MINIMUM. Alterations that include construction activity by more than 1 trade or specialty, make substantial changes to at least 1 entire room in the building, and require isolation of the work site from regular building occupants for the duration of construction are eligible. Additions that increase the total building floor area by at least 5% are eligible. Alterations or additions below these limits are considered repairs, routine replacements, or minor upgrades and are ineligible to earn points under LEED EBOM 2009. The minimum applies only to Materials and Resources (MR) Credits 3 and 9, and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Credit 1.5.

MINIMUM PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

The LEED 2009 Minimum Program Requirements (MPRs) define the minimum characteristics that a project must possess in order to be eligible for certification under LEED 2009. These requirements define the categories of buildings that the LEED rating systems were designed to evaluate, and taken together serve three goals: to give clear guidance to users, to protect the integrity of the LEED program, and to reduce challenges that occur during the LEED certification process. It is expected that MPRs will evolve over time along with LEED rating system improvements. The requirements will apply only to those projects registering under LEED 2009. The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) reserves the right to revoke LEED certification from any LEED 2009 project upon gaining knowledge of non-compliance with any applicable MPRs.

LEED EBOM 2009 was designed to evaluate commercial, institutional, and high-rise residential buildings; as such, any project applying for LEED certification under this rating system must include all or part of at least one building of one of these types. Furthermore, in order to be eligible for certification under any LEED rating system, projects must comply with each of the eight MPRs described below. Any exceptions to the LEED 2009 MPRs will be considered on a case-by-case basis for special circumstances.

1. Must comply with pertinent Environmental Laws for items such as hazardous waste management, wastewater pollution levels, containment/removal of asbestos or lead based paint, etc.
2. The LEED project must lie within the boundary of a contiguous area under single ownership. The project scope must include the entire building, excepting some spaces that may be excluded from specific credits.
3. Must Use a Reasonable Site Boundary
4. Must Comply with Minimum FTE & Floor Area Requirements. The LEED project must include a minimum of 1,000 gross square feet (93 gross square meters) of indoor, enclosed building floor area. At least 90% of the buildings gross square footage must be included in the project.
5. Must Comply with Minimum Occupancy Rates. The LEED project must be fully occupied (defined as average or typical occupancy expected during normal operations) for at least the 12 continuous months preceding certification application. Vacant tenant space measuring 25% or less of the building floor area is permitted, as time-averaged over the previous 12 months. For an apartment building, hotel, dormitory, convention center, classroom, sports facility, or similar structure, ordinary partial occupancy is permitted. At least 75% of the floor area must be physically occupied at normal capacity and the corresponding building systems shall operate normally for a year.
6. Registration and Certification Activity Must Comply with Reasonable Timetables and Rating System Sunset Dates
7. Must Allow USGBC Access to Whole-Building Energy and Water Usage Data
8. Must Comply with a Minimum Building Area to Site Area Ratio. The LEED project building’s total gross floor area must be no less than 2% of the LEED project’s site area. Note that the LEED project site area may be less than the total site area associated with the project building.

COMPARISON OF LEED EBOM 2008/2009:

Credit Category	Points: 08	/09
Sustainable Sites	12	/26
Water Efficiency	10	/14
Energy & Atmosphere	30	/35
Materials & Resources	14	/10
Indoor Environmental Quality	19	/15
Subtotal(Basis)	85	/100
Innovation in Operations	07	/6
Regional Priority	0	/4
Totals	92	/110