In the last several years, there have been major changes to some of the green building programs. Metal Architecture caught up with representatives for each program to discuss what’s been going on and where each is headed in the future.
LEED
In November 2013, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) rolled out the latest version of its LEED green building program, LEED v4, at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Philadelphia. Considered a “quantum leap for LEED,” according to Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of the USGBC, LEED v4 encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.
“The LEED v4 rollout is going well. Currently, we have four projects certified under v4, with another 256 registered projects pursuing certification. Because we recognize that LEED v4 is such a major step forward for the industry, we are giving the industry ample time to learn about the new version and adjust as it is gradually phased in. To that end, projects are eligible to register (the beginning of the certification process) under LEED v2009 until June 27, 2015. That is a larger window from the time a new LEED version is launched to the phasing out of the older version of LEED than we’ve ever offered in the past. As LEED v4 increasingly becomes the new normal for the green building industry, we expect those certified and registered numbers to increase significantly.
“There are a couple major trends going on for LEED. One of those is international growth. Currently, there are LEED projects in more than 150 countries and territories around the world, and 43 percent of all square footage pursuing LEED is located outside of the U.S. In addition, there are 100 Green Building Councils around the world that are working to advance green building in many different countries. Brazil, India, China, and the UAE are particular countries that have seen explosive growth in green building in recent years. We are also actively working to partner with organizations with similar missions to foment further uptake for LEED internationally (see recent announcements around partnerships with India’s The Energy and Resources Institute and with Bureau Veritas, an international testing body, as examples). Also check out our recent list of the top 10 countries for LEED outside the U.S.
“Another major trend is the greening of existing buildings. While LEED is often associated with new construction projects, in fact, in 2011, square footage of LEED-certified existing buildings surpassed LEED-certified new construction on a cumulative basis, a trend that continues to this day. By retrofitting buildings under the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance rating system, existing buildings can dramatically improve their environmental performance, often by creating and adhering to operational and maintenance-related protocols and procedures. There is huge potential for creating a sustainable built environment by greening these existing buildings.”
Jacob Kriss, media specialist at the U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, D.C.
Green Globes
The Green Building Initiative (GBI) made a big splash earlier this year when it brought on Jerry Yudelson as president. Nicknamed the “Godfather of Green,” Yudelson started with GBI in early 2014, and has increased the visibility of Green Globes in the green building community.
“GBI’s Strategic Plan for 2014-2016 envisions an organization five times larger in 2016, compared with 2013, and one that has a much greater role in defining what constitutes a green building and how building certification should be accomplished. In particular, by 2016, all of the Green Globes rating systems will be refreshed, refined and updated: New Construction, Sustainable Interiors and Existing Buildings, and all will be based on ANSI standards crafted by GBI and its partners. In addition, GBI plans to create partnerships with leading national and global NGOs to extend the reach of its green building rating and certification programs to new markets and to penetrate deeper into the U.S. commercial building market.
“In the last year, GBI’s building rating system Green Globes received its acknowledgement from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Department of Defense as one of two green building certification systems usable by federal agencies to meet federal sustainability guiding principles, and which best suit agency missions and portfolio needs: the Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes for New Construction and Continuous Improvement of Existing Buildings, and the USGBC’s LEED-2009 version. This is significant because prior to announcement, LEED was the only rating system endorsed by the GSA.
“Since I started with GBI, two new products have been rolled out: Green Globes for Sustainable Interiors as well as a specific product that meets the needs of federal buildings wishing to comply with Executive Order 13514, Guiding Principles Compliance for New Construction.
“In addition to these two entirely new rating systems GBI is updating and refining the leading-edge Green Globes for New Construction rating system in 2014 through an ANSI national consensus process. Due to the success and market acceptance of Green Globes in the first four months of 2014, more than 2,500 people applied to become accredited as a Green Globes Professional, further indicating a strong market interest in Green Globes.
“In the upcoming year Green Globes plans to roll out new products, announce new partnerships and further expand its board of directors to more broadly reflect the full range of participants in the commercial building industry.”
Jerry Yudelson, PE, president of the Green Building Initiative, Portland, Ore.
Living Buildings Challenge
Run by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), the Living Building Challenge (LBC) is designed to be the world’s most rigorous building performance standard. Created by CEO Jason F. McLennan, the program is made up of seven Petals-Place, Water, Energy, Health & Happiness, Materials, Equity and Beauty-divided into 20 Imperatives.
“The Institute is a nonprofit organization and its mission is to lead and support the transformation towards communities that are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. Our roots are really about approaching that mission from the angle of the built environment.
“The LBC serves as the foundation for which we’ve built out a lot of other programs. As a nonprofit not only do we work as a certification body that certifies building projects and community projects as Living Buildings and Living Communities, we also view education as a core component of our mission, so we organize a number of conferences, workshops and educational events throughout the year. We put out a quarterly magazine called Trim Tab, and we also have a publishing wing, Ecotone Publishing, where we try to capture the stories about the pioneers on the leading edge of restorative building and tell the stories about those people, places and technologies.
“The LBC has been very successful in terms of adoption, with the number of registered projects rising by 23 percent in 2013. We’re also seeing an uptake of the LBC more broadly around the globe, with projects being registered in China, India, New Zealand, Australia and South America. The LBC is growing from a North American standard to something that can be and is being applied more globally.
“The LBC has recently been updated from version 2.1 to version 3.0. We made a deliberate effort to focus not just on environmental or ecological restoration as a chief outcome of pursuing the LBC, but the other two elements of our mission statement: making sure that we are creating buildings and communities that are socially just and culturally rich.
“Therefore, we developed a program called JUST that is a transparency platform of organizations, not only in the building industry, but all organizations, to encourage transparent disclosure of policies that explain how their workers are treated, where they invest their funds, and then basically the role that they fill in their communities. These changes are reflected in the equity component of LBC 3.0. Additionally, the Red List of chemicals and substances prohibited from inclusion in LBC projects has been updated and expanded to ensure that chemicals that pose the greatest threat to human health and the environment are not being included in our buildings. To support that endeavor, we are encouraging the use of Declare, another program that we developed that is a transparency platform for the ingredients in building products.
“We have also updated a lot of our educational offerings and training opportunities for building professionals around the world who volunteer to help us spread the word by giving presentations in their communities.”
Jay Kosa, communications director, International Living Future Institute, Portland, Ore.
Energy Star
Given on an annual basis, Energy Star-certified buildings are designed to save energy and money while helping to protect the environment by generating fewer greenhouse gas emissions than typical buildings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets the performance standards for Energy Star.
“The EPA’s Energy Star program for commercial buildings and industrial plants continues to deliver energy management guidance and leading tools and resources to facility owners and managers across the nation. More than 5,500 public and private sector organizations have committed to reducing their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by partnering with Energy Star.
“Energy Star Portfolio Manager remains the industry-standard tool that the commercial buildings market uses to measure, track, and benchmark the energy performance of more than 350,000 facilities. In fact, more than 40 percent of the commercial floor space in the country is being benchmarked in Portfolio Manager. The tool was completed upgraded in 2013, and now features improved functionality and design. Among the improvements was to integrate the Energy Star Target Finder tool into a new ‘design’ tab in Portfolio Manager. This means that the energy performance of a building can now be tracked through its entire life cycle-from the design phase all the way through to occupancy and operation.
“At the same time, Portfolio Manager expanded into Canada, the result of a partnership with Natural Resources Canada. This means that the tool is now available in French, and that certain types of buildings in Canada can now compare their energy performance against other buildings in Canada, rather than comparing themselves against U.S. buildings.
“The Energy Star website, www.energystar.gov/buildings, was also completely redesigned in 2013, allowing for improved navigation and functionality. A brand new ‘Tools and Resources’ library allows users to search and filter through the program’s more than 500 resources, and an improved conversational writing style makes the entire website easier to read.
“In 2012, EPA debuted a new report series called Energy Star DataTrends, which draws conclusions and presents statistical data and trends using aggregated data from the more than 350,000 currently benchmarking in the tool. Among the most exciting statistics uncovered was that buildings that regularly benchmarked their energy use over a three-year period reduced their energy use by an average of 7 percent (or 2.4 percent per year).
“Looking ahead to the future, this year brings the much-anticipated debut of a 1-100 Energy Star score for multifamily properties. The 1-100 score, calculated within Portfolio Manager, rates a building’s energy performance relative to other similar buildings across the country, while accounting for variables such as weather and building characteristics. A 50 signifies median performance. A 75 signifies that a building outperforms 75 percent of similar buildings, and is the minimum score required for Energy Star certification. Now that multifamily properties can earn a 1-100 Energy Star score, they’ll be able to better able to assess their energy efficiency relative to their peers, and top-performing properties can earn the Energy Star.
“More than 24,000 buildings have earned EPA’s Energy Star certification, and more continue to get certified every day. These top-performing buildings use 35 percent less energy than a typical building and cause 35 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, on average.”
Lauren Hodges, director of communications, Energy Star for Commercial Buildings and Industrial Plants, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C