The US Green Building Council sent a press release out today announcing that all buildings seeking LEED certification will be required to provide energy and water usage data on a recurring basis as a precondition to certification. The new requirements will be part of LEED v.3, which all registered projects will be required to follow starting June 27.

The USGBC's LEED standard is the nation's premier green building standard. One of the criticisms about the LEED certification process has been the lack of performance data during the operation of LEED buildings to understand how they perform versus non-LEED buildings with regard to energy and water usage (see previous post for a more detailed discussion about the lack of performance data for LEED-certified buildings). There were 853 healthcare facilities registered as LEED projects as of April. Hospitals, for instance, are energy-intensive facilities using more than 2.5 times the energy intensity and carbon dioxide emissions of commercial office buildings, producing more than 30 pounds of CO2 emissions per square foot. Historically, the USGBC marketed LEED certification as a way to lower costs. U.S. hospitals spend over $5 billion annually on energy, often equaling 1 to 3 percent of a typical hospital’s operating budget and an estimated 15 percent of profits. With the lack of performance data, it was difficult to assess the veracity of the USGBC's claims regarding the operational efficiencies of following the LEED standards.

“Today there is all too often a disconnect, or performance gap, between the energy modeling done during the design phase and what actually happens during daily operation after the building is constructed,” said Scot Horst, Senior Vice President of LEED, U.S. Green Building Council. “We’re convinced that ongoing monitoring and reporting of data is the single best way to drive higher building performance because it will bring to light external issues such as occupant behavior or unanticipated building usage patterns, all key factors that influence performance.”

Buildings can provide data annually on an on-going basis or the building owner can sign a release that authorizes the USGBC to access the building's energy and water usage data from the building utility's provider. Existing buildings are recertified every two years using the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance standards.

This requirement will provide best practices data and critical information that will inform future versions of the LEED standard. Basing these standards on data instead of predictive models is an important step in the evolution of the green building industry.