Time for a Wedding: Why LEED NC Needs to Marry LEED EBOM
This past week Beacon Capital Partners property at 550 West Washington in downtown Chicago became the nation's first multi-tenant building to earn LEED Platinum Certification under the LEED: Existing Buildings Operation and Maintenance Category. While I certainly am pleased to see the advancement of green building and the achievement of such a high certification level I am equally pleased by a quote in the original article . In the article Fred Seigel, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Beacon was quoted as saying:
"Platinum LEED certification is the ultimate proof that a building meets the most rigorous standards for energy and sustainability, and demonstrates Beacon's commitment to sustainability throughout our portfolio."
In recent weeks LEED certification has been criticized by the New York Times and covered by both myself and my colleague Chris Cheatham of GBLU. As Chris has previously suggested a marriage between LEED for new construction with LEED for existing buildings would help to silence many of the critics as buildings would then be initially certified based on their design and construction and re-certified on an ongoing basis provided they continue to be operated and maintained at a high level of performance.
A marriage between these two certification systems could be the solution required to silence green construction naysayers. Under a merged system buildings owners would be provided an incentive to properly contract with the building's tenants to ensure that their green building is operated in a sustainable manner.
Is it time for a wedding? Will you be in attendance by advocating for a certification system which promotes sustainable construction and ongoing operation.
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Interesting post Rich -- I think this is where they want to go, but there may be some impediments. I was planning on talking this issue later this week,
Tim
Tim,
I think you are starting to see USGBC take steps in this direction with the MPRs and the energy reporting requirements. I look forward to your take on the issue.