Green Building & Environmental Trends : Green Building & Construction LEED AP Consulting : Rich Cartlidge : Environmental Trends, Urban Development

Today Rob Watson, the father of LEED, replied to my post When LEED Falls Short regarding Dartmouth College's poorly performing LEED certified buildings on his site. Rob had some interesting comments regarding my post such as:

What is striking about this comment and about the (albeit pained) tenor of the blog piece is that LEED is to blame! Forget the architect, forget the engineers, forget the contractors . . . LEED is to blame. I guess it's sort of like, "My bank account can't be overdrawn, I still have checks left!"

The other area where LEED and ASHRAE didn't do very well in the early years was in plug loads, which were essentially excluded from the standards. We are now dealing with a modern campus that is totally wired with 17-inch plasma screens and energy-chewing high-def video games on top of the requisite ear-splitting stereo systems, etc. In all likelihood, none of this was taken into account in Dartmouth's energy modeling.

And let's be frank: Most (not all) energy modeling in the U.S. still sucks. The models themselves are not very good. No one has put much money into developing them or recalibrating the algorithms based on actual detailed building performance measurement.

As its founder I fully understand Mr. Watson's need to defend LEED and to shift the blame for poorly performing buildings to other causes such as poor energy modeling. However, I stand firm in my conviction that LEED is in some ways still to blame. Lets not forget that LEED has requirements for energy modeling! If these energy models are so failed as Mr. Watson claims they are then why isn't LEED and the USGBC doing something to develop a better modeling system? LEED is supposed to serve as a leader in making the buildings of tomorrow more sustainable (a goal which I fully support and the reason I became a LEED AP). I suggest LEED and the USGBC start investing in developing a energy model that accounts for the loads placed on buildings in today's high tech world.

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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.

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Babcock Ranch is an eco-city being built in southwest Florida by Kitson and Partners. Babcock Ranch is to be powered entirely by an onsite solar power system, the largest of its kind which will make Babcock Ranch the first city powered entirely by solar power. Florida Power and Light is building the 300 million dollar solar facility which will be hooked into a smart grid. The solar system will help Florida reach Governor Christ's goal of having 20% of Florida's power derived from renewable resources by 2020. The facility is scheduled to cost 2 Billion dollars with 300 Million slated for the 75MW solar power plant. Babcock Ranch is projected to create 20,000 permenant jobs within the state.

Key Design Features:

• Largest PV Solar System combined with Smart Grid
• Smart Homes designed for energy efficiency and to withstand 120 MPH winds
• Completely interconnectted with bike and walking paths
• Neighborhood fitness center
• Full wired for the future
• Adjacent to a 73,000 acre wildlife preserve
• Will be a Florida Green Building Coalition Certified Community
• City is to serve as a learning labratory for energy efficiency

What do you think of developing green cities? Is this the model for all future development in undeveloped areas?

All photos: Babcock Ranch

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Great River Enegy recently released a white paper detailing the construction of their Maple Grove, Minn. headquarters, the first building to achieve LEED Platinum in the state. The text of the white paper can be found here.Great River Energy not only built a sophisticated building which scored 56 points but also built a structure which can be used to educate others.

The key features of the Great River headquarters are:

1. Uses 50% less energy and 90% less water than a structure built to just state codes
2. Utilizes an in lake geothermal HVAC system
3. In floor displacement ventilation system
4. Daylight harvesting
5. 72 kilowatts of on site solar power and a 200 kilowatt wind turbine
6. Only cost 10% more than a traditionally built structure

The Great River Energy headquarters is an excellent example of how proper research, communication between all team members, and follow up evaluation and corrective action can create a building that is not only sustainable and efficient but also an excellent educational tool to spread the message that green building does not need to break the bank.

We need to rethink the way we evaluate buildings and energy usage for as the CEO of Green River Energy said: "At Great River Energy, we know the cheapest—and cleanest—kilowatt-hour is the one we don’t have to produce. So conservation and energy efficiency have become our first
fuel.”

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