LEED-NC Performance Study

Commissioned by the USGBC, the New Buildings Institute’s Energy Performance of LEED for New Construction Buildings report (March 4, 2008) details what levels of energy efficiency are on average achieved by LEED-NC buildings after project completion and receipt of LEED certification. The NBI measured the energy performance of 121 LEED New Construction buildings, and compared their intended usage with their actual usage. Energy savings against baseload performance that would have occurred had the projects not pursued LEED certification were then calculated, with the results of the study concluding that “projects certified by the USGBC LEED program average substantial energy performance improvement over non-LEED building stock.”

Compared against the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), the median measured Energy Use Intensity for LEED buildings was 24% below the national average for all commercial building stock. This number however incorporates all types of building; when the comparison was drawn against offices only, the single most common type of building registered under LEED, the EUIs averaged 33% below CBECS.

In addition, average energy savings were seen to increase more the higher the certification level (the standard “Certified” through to the elite “Platinum”) that was achieved.

PERSONALLY SPEAKING

This is solid methodical proof that the USGBC’s LEED Rating system is achieving the goals that it set out to achieve. What is so promising about this is that as technology and practices are themselves made more efficient, so will the buildings employing them become even more so too. ~ Matt

Matt Kiszka is the LEED and Greenbuilding initiatives project manager for Renewable Choice