Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings
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Re: Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings
#2The biggest issue I see is that LEEDs allow for a building that looks like a big heat exchanger, and has zero heat insulation to certify for high power efficiency in a cold climate.
Canada, and Toronto area had tons of LEEDs certed luxury condos being heated like no tomorrow in Winter.
Things are even worse in Vancouver, but that's offset by milder weather.
The opposite picture is there in hot climates.
Building with exposed balcony slabs, and curtainwalls in +40C° climates, guzzling electricity for aircons.
I think the West needs to look up more for economical building designs from nations living in extremes.
Gulf countries learned how to build economically in +50C°
Nordic ones for -30C° in Winter
None of them spend as much as US, and Western Europe on heating, or cooling despite way more severe climates.
Building operation is 40% of US total energy bill if we believe CTBUH https://www.researchgate.net/figure/US-Energy-Consumption-by... . And 40% of building energy bill in US is space heating https://www.epa.gov/rhc/rhc-multi-unit-housing
All those vanities like PV panels, solar water heaters, rainwater collection, turbines, etc — all totally pale in comparison to just proper thermal design of a building, and slashing its heating bill.
Re: Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings
#3The biggest issue I see is that LEEDs allow for a building that looks like a big heat exchanger, and has zero heat insulation to certify for high power efficiency in a cold climate. Canada, and Toronto area had tons of LEEDs certed luxury condos being heated like no tomorrow in Winter. Things are even worse in Vancouver, but that's offset by milder weather. The opposite picture is there in hot climates. Building with…
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Re: Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings
#4a building i used to work in got retrofitted to be leads certified. it got a new front door vestibule. the doors don't hang right, it's obstructive for people with different mobility needs. it leeks air like a tattered balloon. none of the glaring issues in the basement were fixed. it got a leed certification.
nobody really cares, it's just all a sham. no real point to leeds certs other than polishing a turd.
Re: Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings
#5It is interesting that this is surfacing just as another similar scam is making the rounds[1], Well [2]. An older product, apparently, that has now been rebranded and updated to take advantage of fears around COVID. They purport to be a certifications company, like LEED, that can evaluate a business or building and determine if it meets certain arbitrary standards around being "safe" in the health sense.
If they can get an insurance company to give a break on liability insurance based on the certification, then they're ready to make bank off of companies looking to attract customers in the wake of COVID.
[1] https://twitter.com/WELLcertified/status/1353757841459449857
Re: Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings
#6The biggest issue I see is that LEEDs allow for a building that looks like a big heat exchanger, and has zero heat insulation to certify for high power efficiency in a cold climate. Canada, and Toronto area had tons of LEEDs certed luxury condos being heated like no tomorrow in Winter. Things are even worse in Vancouver, but that's offset by milder weather. The opposite picture is there in hot climates. Building with…
I don't know much about LEEDs and maybe that should be updated, but I live in a cold climate and I see a lot of focus on insulation and insulation efficiency, both in new construction and updating old buildings.
This idea that there's not a focus on insulation in the west seems kinda strange to me.
Re: Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings
#7RESNET's Certified Home Energy Rating System may be a better system, though I don't think it applies to commercial buildings:
Re: Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings
#8Summary: Operational energy efficiency is one of several goals of LEED, and in practice it's not high priority enough to be (statistically significantly) improved, in the sample of buildings they have data on, in the time period they took the data.
Re: Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings
#9The usual caveat: Any headline that ends with a question mark should be answered with "No"; which is pretty much exactly what the summary says:
> If energy efficiency is the primary policy goal, LEED certification may not be the most effective means to reach that goal.
Re: Does LEED Certification Save Energy? Evidence from Federal Buildings
#10The article points out that LEED certification is about more than just energy efficiency, and a building can obtain LEED certification without being energy efficient by focusing on other LEED areas.