From Single Commercial Buildings to Portfolios: Streamlining LEED® Documentation for Volume Customers

Panel: Commercial Buildings: Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation

Author:
Mike Opitz, U.S. Green Building Council

Abstract

Historically the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System ^TM has certified buildings one at a time, with each LEED customer submitting full support documentation. As LEED's uptake in the market has grown, many customers seek to certify dozens or hundreds of buildings. This paper describes a volume review process, currently in pilot, representing LEED's response to this demand - a method of submitting documentation that reduces duplication, uses economies of scale, and leverages a single project team's ability to oversee a whole portfolio. Key to the process is the assessment of variance in the portfolio: whether all buildings in the LEED application are physically similar, are located on the same site, and operate similarly. The variance assessment defines whether each LEED credit's submittal for the portfolio can be collapsed into a single uniform portfolio submittal. The guidelines for this process vary across LEED credits and across customer situations, and are different for initial design and construction versus ongoing operations and maintenance. The paper summarizes LEED's pilot volume review process and the challenges of providing better process efficiency and flexibility for LEED and its customers while maintaining certification program integrity. The paper highlights LEED's energy credits - efficiency, renewables, commissioning, and measurement & verification.