Closing The Gap So LEED Can Lead The Way
One of the biggest criticisms of the LEED certification system is that LEED certified buildings do not live up to their performance expectations. While there has yet to be widespread litigation arising from the gap between expected performance and actual performance a recent change to LEED may soon give rise to both increased litigation as well as better performing buildings. Under LEED versions 1.0 and 2.0 buildings were not required to report energy and water usage. The lack of a reporting requirement was a fact that many building owners who had made promises or implied promises of decreased energy usage to lure tenants and allow them to charge higher rents were likely grateful for considering that many LEED certified buildings were not performing up to their promised levels. Even the best designed building is capable of performing poorly if the owner and management do not properly educate the occupants about the energy saving devices used in its construction. A common example is occupant sensing lighting controls turning off lights when occupants sat still for a prolonged period of time, leading individuals to override the sensors and cause lights to remain on long after occupants had left the room and in numerous cases 24 hours per day. LEED version 3.0 seeks to address this gap between expectations and performance by requiring annual energy and water usage reporting or re-certification every two years. Stephen Del Percio at Green Real Estate Law did a good job of explaining the new system and its potential implications.
The energy reporting obligations imposed under the new system will very beneficial to companies which manufacture systems to facilitate energy usage monitoring. However, the biggest benefit will be to the future owners, operators, and users of such buildings who will now know if their building is performing to its promised standards. Whether this new requirement leads to an increase in litigation or not remains to be seen but it surely is a step in the right direction to establishing the credibility of the LEED system and will help to close the gap between building design and building operation.
