-
Onsite and Off-Site Renewable Energy
This credit rewards projects with up to six points for using renewable energy either through the purchase of green power (RECs and carbon offsets), the use of onsite renewable systems, or a combination of the two.
The decision to approach this credit through onsite or off-site renewable energy generally comes down to the following:
- The first costs of onsite renewable installation.
- Whether the owner supports the longer-term payback likely for onsite renewables.
- The compatibility of the building and systems with onsite renewables.
- The cost of offsite renewables and whether the owner perceives value in that.
- The kind of green story the building owner would like to tell.
Onsite is tough
Onsite renewable energy is rarely pursued by EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. projects because it is can be expensive and technically challenging.
The credit allows for numerous different systems, including solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal (hot water), to geothermal (harvesting heat from deep within the earth—not surface-level “geo-exchange”), wind, low-impact hydroelectric, and certain types of biomass. Of these, solar and solar thermal are the most widely used because they work with the widest variety of sites and microclimates.
The Green-e Energy logo is displayed on renewable energy certificates (RECs) that meet a set of requirements.What are RECs?
The market for renewable energy credits (RECs) and carbon offsets has exploded in recent years, but both are fairly abstract commodities that can be difficult to define.
For buildings that can’t generate onsite renewable power but want to use renewable energy, RECs (sometimes called “green tags”) allow customers to continue to buy the same grid-supplied power, while also buying the environmental attributes of electricity produced by a renewable source. (The actual renewably generated electricity is sold separately to the grid for market price as normal power.) To ensure quality, LEED requires you to purchase RECs certified by Green-e, a third-party program.
Costs for offsite renewable energy vary over time according to the market. Purchasing in volume can reduce the price, while buying RECs from specific regions or sources can increase the price. RECs are easy to buy and can be done anytime.
What are carbon offsets?
Carbon offsets are much more narrowly defined than RECs. Measured in tons of carbon dioxide offset, they allow an entity that is emitting carbon in one setting, such as in heating a building, to buy offsets that theoretically prevent or displace carbon emissions in another context, such as in capturing landfill emissions.
The Green-e Climate program certifies carbon offsets to certain standards that are accepted by LEED.While RECs simply transfer an environmental attribute from one kilowatt-hour to another, carbon offsets do something much more nuanced. They try to erase the impact of an activity. To do this, they have to create carbon reductions that wouldn’t have happened but for the investment represented by the carbon offset. This is very tricky to define in practice. To ensure quality, LEED requires you to purchase offsets certified by Green-e.
Different from LEED-NC
In LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC), there are separate credits for onsite renewables (EAc2) and for offsite renewables (EAc6), while EBOM combines both with this credit. In EBOM, this credit also covers total energy use, including steam, natural gas, propane, and fuel oil consumed onsite, and not just electricity use as in NC. This makes the credit more costly and somewhat more involved than in NC.
Do renewables make sense?
Using renewable energy helps reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and their associated economic, social, and environmental costs. Still, they suffer from perceptions that they are not worth the trouble.
These photovoltaic panels at Fossil Ridge School in Fort Collins, Colorado provide onsite renewable energy as well as shading.A persistent myth is that PV panels will never produce enough energy in their lifetime to offset the energy used in manufacturing them. This myth has been debunked many times. One recent study, for example, found that PV recoups its manufacturing energy within three years, while the lifespan of PV panels can be 30 or more years.Renewable energy is perceived as costing too much. Indeed, it is generally far more cost-effective to invest in energy efficiency than to invest in renewable energy generation. However, for many owners, particularly with a long-term view on payback, both investments are worthwhile.
Consider these questions when approaching this credit
- Does the building have a corporate owner that purchases RECs and carbon offsets at the corporate level, that can be applied to the project building? If so, the credit will be particularly easy to meet.
- What opportunities exist for adding onsite renewables to the project building? What are the costs and benefits? What incentives are available?
FAQ's for LEED-EBOM EAc4
We are purchasing green power through the local utility but it is not able to provide or sign a two-year contract because of restrictions applied to the utility. Can we still meet the credit requirements with our current purchased green power covering the performance period and then a memo indicating our commitment to continue purchasing green power for the rest of the two-year term?
The reference guide states that: "At the time of application, off-site energy and offsets must have actually been purchased for at least the performance period. Contracts or commitments for future purchases can meet the remainder of the 2-year requirement." Accordingly, a commitment to purchasing green power beyond the performance period is an acceptable method of meeting the 2-year criteria.
We’d like to wait to pursue the option for off-site renewable energy until after the results of the preliminary review. Is it ok to pursue this credit after the preliminary review is complete or as an appeal should we need additional points?
In general, you can submit new credits after the preliminary review or at the appeal stage (or increase the achievement threshold of previously pursued credits) as long as you remain in compliance with performance period rules. Because there are no environmental implications to buying offsets for the performance period after the performance period, it's allowed for this credit.
Where can I find the current cost for RECs and carbon offsets?
The best way to track down cost information is to request a quote from one or several third-party providers. Prices vary with market conditions and providers do not post current pricing as a standard practice.
What time period do purchased RECs and offsets need to cover? Do we need to cover the performance period plus an additional two years after that?
The contract for purchased offsets needs to cover at least two years including the performance period.
Legend
- Best Practices
- Gotcha
- Action Steps
- Cost Tip
Before the Performance Period
Expand All
A solar thermal installation provides hot water at the Snowmass Recreation Center in Snowmass, Colorado.Solar-thermal applications can offer attractive paybacks, especially for buildings with high demand for domestic hot water or hydronic heating, such as multifamily residential buildings, hotels, or other buildings that use boilers. Solar-thermal is best suited to support a building’s mechanical system when the building uses low-temperature boilers.
USGBC
Excerpted from LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance
EA Credit 4: On-site and off-site renewable energy
1-6 points
Intent
To encourage and recognize increasing levels of on and off-site renewable energy to reduce environmental and economic impacts associated with fossil fuel energy use.
Requirements
During the performance period, meet some or all of the building’s total energy use with on-site or off-site renewable energy systems. Points are earned according to the following table, which shows the percentages of building energy use met by renewable energy during the performance period.
Off-site renewable energy sources are defined by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. Energy program’s products certification requirements, or the equivalent. Green power may be procured from a Green-e Energy-certified power marketer or a Green-e Energy-accredited utility program, or through Green-e Energy-certified tradable renewable energy certificates (RECs) or the equivalent. For on-site renewable energy that is claimed for LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance credit, the associated environmental attributes must be retained or retired and cannot be sold.
If the green power is not Green-e Energy certified, equivalence must exist for both major Green-e Energy program criteria: 1) current green power performance standards, and 2) independent, third-party verification that those standards are being met by the green power supplier over time.
Up to the 6-point limit, any combinations of individual actions are awarded the sum of the points allocated to those individual actions. For example, 1 point would be awarded for implementing 3% of on-site renewable energy, and 3 additional points would be awarded for meeting 50% of the building’s energy load with renewable power or certificates during the performance period. Projects must submit proof of a contract to purchase RECs for a minimum of 2 years and must also make a commitment to purchase RECs on an ongoing basis beyond that.
On-site renewable energy Off-site renewable
energy certificates
Points 3% or 25% 1 4.5% or 37.5%
2 6%
or 50% 3 7.5% or 62.5% 4
9% or
75% 5 12% or 100% 6
Potential Technologies & Strategies
Design and specify the use of on-site nonpolluting renewable technologies to contribute to the total energy requirements of the building. Consider and employ solar, geothermal, wind, biomass (other than unsustainably harvested wood) and biogas technologies.
Purchase renewable energy or tradable renewable energy certificates to meet some or all of the building’s energy requirements. Review the building’s electrical consumption trends. Research power providers in the area and select a provider that guarantees that a portion of its delivered electric power is derived from net nonpolluting renewable technologies. If the project is in an open-market state, investigate green power and power marketers licensed to provide power in that state. Grid power that qualifies for this credit originates from solar, wind, geothermal, biomass or low-impact hydro sources.
Organizations
Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE)
This database shows state-by-state incentives for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other green building measures. Included in this database are incentives on demand control ventilation, ERVs, and HRVs.
Green-e
Search for green power or carbon offsetA fiscal unit measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) representing six main categories of greenhouse gases. Aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, one carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide (or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases). Carbon offsets are typically purchased by consumers of fossil fuels or products using fossil fuels, as a way to "offset" or negate their negative environmental impact. providers by location. Understand Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. standards to demonstrate equivalency.
US Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Search for green power and carbon offsetA fiscal unit measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) representing six main categories of greenhouse gases. Aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, one carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide (or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases). Carbon offsets are typically purchased by consumers of fossil fuels or products using fossil fuels, as a way to "offset" or negate their negative environmental impact. providers. Also, Includes information on all types of renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency.
Low Impact Hydropower Institute
The Low Impact Hydropower Institute is a non-profit organization and certification body that establishes criteria against which to judge the environmental impacts of hydropower projects in the United States.
Articles
The Folly of Building-Integrated Wind
Wind turbines on buildings could produce electricity where it's needed and catch high winds above ground level. However, wind turbulence, safety, cost, and poor performance all make building-integrated wind a limited strategy, according to this article from Environmental Building News.
Low Emissions, Quick Energy Payback for Thin-Film PV
A BuildingGreen.com article about a 2008 study showing that all current photovoltaic technologies offer at least an 89% reduction of air emissions compared with conventional electricity while also offering an energy-payback time of less than three years.
Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Pricing
RECA Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is a certificate representing proof that a given unit of electricity was generated from a renewable energy source such as solar or wind. These certificates are able to be sold, traded, or bartered as environmental commodities, where an electricity consumer can buy the renewable energy attributes of electricty to support renewable energy, even if they are consuming generic grid-supplied electricity that may be supplied by nonrenewable sources. vendors often offer different REC products and pricing based on the type of renewable energy generation (such as solar or wind) and the geographical location of the generation, as shown in this sample pricing table prepared for a LEED-NC project.
Samples
Renewable Energy Feasibility
Careful analysis of renewable energy feasibility is required for most projects. The example shown here was for a 20-kW system on a commercial building.
Photovoltaic (PV) Calculator
Use of photovoltaic (PV) electricity is the most common way to earn LEED points. This spreadsheet helps you analyze how much PV you need to earn LEED points, what it will cost, and how much it will reduce your project's carbon emissions.
Samples
Photovoltaic Project Work
Sample documents showing PV infrastructure and calculations with an onsite PV project.
Off-Site Calculator
Use this calculator to determine the key data points related to EAc4 (off-site only). This information may be used as supporting documentation to demonstrate that purchased RECs and carbon offsets over the 2-year contract period meet the expected energy consumption for electricity and fuels.
Sample LEED Online Form
Use sample LEED Online form with sample data and annotations to understand documentation of EAc4.
LEED Online Forms: EBOM-2009 EA
The following links take you to the public, informational versions of the dynamic LEED Online forms for each EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems.-2009 EA credit. You'll need to fill out the live versions of these forms on LEED Online for each credit you hope to earn.
Version 4 forms (newest):
- EAp2: Minimum Energy Peformance
- EAp3: Fundamental Refrigerant Management
- EAc2.1: Commissioning—Investigation & Analysis
- EAc4: Onsite and Offsite Renewable Energy
- EAc5: Enhanced Refrigerant Management
Version 3 forms:
- EAp1: Energy Efficiency Best Mngt. Practices
- EAp2: Minimum Energy Peformance
- EAp3: Fundamental Refrigerant Management
- EAc1: Optimize Energy Performance
- EAc2.1: Commissioning—Investigation & Analysis
- EAc2.2: Commissioning—Implementation
- EAc2.3: Commissioning—Ongoing Commissioning
- EAc3.1: Perf. Measurement—BAS
- EAc3.2: Perf. Measurement—System-Level Monitoring
- EAc4: Onsite and Offsite Renewable Energy
- EAc5: Enhanced Refrigerant Management
- EAc6: Emissions Reduction Reporting
These links are posted by LEEDuser with USGBC's permission. USGBC has certain usage restrictions for these forms; for more information, visit LEED Online and click "Sample Forms Download."
LEEDuser is produced by BuildingGreen, Inc., with YR&G authoring most of the original content. LEEDuser enjoys ongoing collaboration with USGBC.
67 Comments
Carbon Offsets (Green-e Equivalent)
We have a client that wants to buy carbon credits from a project in Brazil, and since green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. do not have auditors here, there are no Brazilian companies certified under the Green-e climate standard.
Although, there are companies here that sell carbon credits (CERs - certified by the UNFCCC) to offset emissions.
I´d like to know if those credits would be accepted by USGBC, since Green-e Climate also accepts CERs credits for carbon offsets.
Should I write a CIRCredit Interpretation Ruling. Used by design team members experiencing difficulties in the application of a LEED prerequisite or credit to a project. Typically, difficulties arise when specific issues are not directly addressed by LEED information/guide?
Green-e equivalent
Good morning,
We are pursuing this credit and we do not have a Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. certification for the product so we have submitted for the preliminary review all the documentation we have to stablished the equivalency with the Green-e certified. The review team has asked we for a clarification but we are confused because they are asking a documentation we have already submitted. Or probably there is something we do not understand. I am going to explain the steps we have taken for the equivalency. The LEED reference guide says that:
1- "The energy source meets the requirements for renewable resources detailed in the current version of the Green- e standard".
We have uploaded a certificate of the supplier company veryfing that the Green Power comes exclusively from renewable sources.The Green-e standard defines the eligible renewables in the chapter II. Eligible sources of supply/ 1. Definition of eligible renewables as solar, wind, geothermal...which are the same of our supplier company sources. Do we have to submit a letter of our supplier company confirming this?
2- "The renewable energy supplier has undergone an independent, third-party verification that the standard has been met. The third-party verification process must be as rigorous as that used in the Green-e certification process, and it must be performed annually."
In this point we have explained that the Green Power will be double certified at the end of the 2-year contract:
a. In its origin by RECS “Renewable Energy Certified System” (attached below) certificates issued and managed by an Agency for each Country (“Issuing Body”) which in Spain is REE and ensures that the generated energy comes exclusively from renewable sources. This certificates are issued by MWh blocks and contain a certicate number, the issuer, generating plant identity, issue date, production period, technology type, etc. All of this values that appear in the RECS document will be changed at the end of the contract period when the certificate will be issued. They made an annual revision but the certificate is issued at the end of the current Green Power contract.
b. The supplier company has undergone an independent third-party certification by Bureau Veritas Quality International company (attached below) verifying the renewable provenience of the total contracted energy. This certification implies that exists an internal management method of this RECs certifies and the assignment of the Green Power to the purchasers.
Besides this, do we have to compare the Bureau Veritas verification process with the Green-e process? I do not know what more can we do. I hope you could help me because this credit is very important. Thank you very much.
Can you include the exact requests from the LEED Review team?
The review team has told me the following:
The LEED Credit Form has been provided stating that 75.11% of the building energy usage has been met with off-site renewable energy systems. A copy of a two-year contract for renewable energy has been provided.
However, it does not appear that Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. certified renewable energy has been purchased.
TECHNICAL ADVICE:
Please provide documentation indicating that the green power provided is Green-e certified. If the green power is not Green-e certified, provide documentation showing Green-e equivalence, including: 1) equivalence of the green power performance standards for the provider to Green-e, and 2) independent, third-party verification that those standards are being met by the green power supplier over time. Please see the Implementation section of EAc4 in the LEED Reference Guide for Green Building Operations and Maintenance, 2009 Edition (Updated April 2010) for more information.
I think you will have a lot of trouble getting a product to be "equivalent" to green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products.. http://www.green-e.org/getcert_re_stan.shtml This appears to be a growing pain of LEED going international. It doesn't look like any equivalent has been formally accepted and I don't see any specific equivalent mentioned in LEEDv4 either. Even though it doesn't really make sense, you may want to purchase green-e certified RECs for your project instead of renewable energy in your county...carbon dioxide knows no national borders after all. and green-e certified RECs from the U.S. are very affordable (~$1/ MWh)
Patricia, you would have to do exactly what you stated, which is to compare the Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. certification against Bureau Veritas.
I agree with Kathryn, though, that simply purchasing Green-e might be more cost-effective, besides being guaranteed of success.
Green Power purchase after first review (out of the performance)
We have already submitted the certification and we have received the return review, at this point we need to activate some more points in order to reach de 40 points for the certification. Previously, the team thought in achieving the EAC4, and we asked for an offer of Green Power to Iberdrola (utility). Due the economical increase of this type of energy, we decided not to pursue this for the first review.
We are thinking now in achieving this credit, but we are not going to be able to demonstrate 3 months of performance period of green power, because we are planning in purchasing it this month. We are planning to provide for the Final Review, a commitment letter from the property and the Green Power contract of the utility that assures the minimum of 2 years of green power purchase.
Regarding the LEED Reference Guide for Green Building Operations and Maintenance it says that we can submit a commitment to purchase green power instead of a contract in this sentences: "Purchase or commit to purchasing enough off-site renewable energy or carbon offsets to satisfy the building's annual energy consumption for 2 years. Contract or commitments for future purchases can meet the remainder of the 2-year requirement?, but we will like to validate with you if this justification is enough, knowing that the performance period ended the 31st January, 2013, and we are planning to send the final review on the following 15 days.
Thank you very much
Patricia, because your looking at off-site renewable energy there shouldn't be any issue with your approach and we have seen a number of projects purchase green power prior to the final review in order to meet the credit.
Thank you very much Ben. But if I have not purschased green power during the performance period, which value do I have to enter in the column of the "Total Green Power Purchase Quantity Allotted to the Performance
Period" of the "Table EAc4-1. Green power provider summary"?
In this case, I would enter the total amount of off-site renewable energy such that the form shows that the performance period percent of off-site renewable energy is equal to the percent of off-site renewable energy covered by the entire 2 year contract.
Our team has almost the same issue, this is for the appeal phase, since we want to increase the threshold and try to reach Gold instead of Silver.
But we are afraid our review team won´t validate if the two-year contract for off-site renewable energy is signed today and not in the performance period.
Sometimes what appears in LEED User is not necessarily linked to the GBCI.
Can anyone give some feedback? Any experience in this in the past? Have they accepted the purchase of RECs even if they are out of the performance period?
Thanks in advance.
what was your performance period? You may have trouble finding 2012 RECs.
EBOM 2009, EAc4 - LEED Form Calculations for On-site?
This question is in regards to the LEED online form for SSc4 in EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. 2009.
We have selected the option to calculate for "On-Site" renewable energy. The calculator is calculating our "Percentage Renewable Achievement" much higher than what our actual on-site percentage is and we are confused/ would like to know more about how the calculator reaches its final percentage. For reference, our designated inputs are as follows:
Annual Site Energy Usage: 337.11 mBTU
Performance Period: 3 months equating to a prorated mBTU of 84.28
System Type: PV
Amount of Energy Generted during PP (2.2%): 543 kWhA kilowatt-hour is a unit of work or energy, measured as 1 kilowatt (1,000 watts) of power expended for 1 hour. One kWh is equivalent to 3,412 Btu.
The calculations come out to: 1.85 mBTU amount of renewable energy per PP (seem correct) and a Percentage Renewable Achievement of 8.78% (seems too high, how does the calculator get the 8.78%??)
Thanks for any input!
For anyone who may read this and have the same issue, GBCI responded & clarified that this was a technical calulation error on the form and is being as quick as possible to correct the issue!
How can the PV array benefit be shared?
Our campus has multiple buildings, one of which is going for EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. now. The PV array is adjacent (in the parking lot). The PV's do have a meter, so we know their output. This output along with the local utility are like a pool, powering the entire campus. If we share the PV feature for LEED certification among all the buildings (using a sf allocation perhaps) the renewable energy to each building will be so low that no one will really get this EAc4, despite the millions of $ spent. What are our options?
Maria, you could allocate in LEED terms to one building to give that building EAc4. Or you could allocate it equally and make up the difference with purchases of RECs.
No Green-e certification available
Hello,
Our building is pursuing for LEED EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. 2009 vertification and we procure all of our electricity (no natural gas or other fuel type is consumed in our building) from a renewable energy provider (wind energy) which has a renewable energy source (RES) certificate according to our national government's certification scheme. The building is in Turkey, far away from US and there's no presence of Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. certification here. Plus, no energy provider heard or knows about Green-e standard! Therefore, I don't know how the equivalency to Green-e can be provided.
Does it work if I go with "Special Circumstances ..." option and try to explain with the supporting documentation (formal renewable energy source certificate of our government, contract for 2 years, invoices, etc.) that we do not have Green-e in our country and is not possible to show equivalency? Would it be reasonable for earning this credit?
Our government has its own rules and regulations in order to certify an energy provider as a renewable energy source utility but there's no dirct or indirect link with Green-e.
Thanks.
It may seem unattractive for various reasons, but you can simply buy Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. certified products from anywhere—the U.S. if necessary.
off-site renewable with local utility
We currently participate in our natural gas utility provider's off-set program and off-set all of our natural gas usage. When we called the utility provider to ask if we could sign a contract to commit to purchasing these off-sets for two years they told us that they were unable to do that due to the tariff rules they follow. They said that they would be willing to sign a memo stating that we both agree to participate in the program for years, but it would not be legally binding. So in all reality it would make just as much since for us to submit a memo or letter to LEED stating our intent and commitment to purchasing off-sets for 2 years.
Is this good enough? I would hate switch from supporting our local utility provider just b/c LEED wont allow anything but a contract.
Thanks for your input.
This sounds reasonable to me, and the two-year contract requirement really is not set up to accomodate utility offset programs as well as third-party offset providers.
The reference guide states that: "At the time of application, off-site energy and offsets must have actually been purchased for at least the performance period. Contracts or commitments for future purchases can mee the remainder of the 2-year requirement."
I'd interpret this to mean that a commitment memo is an acceptable method of meeting the 2-year criteria.
OnSIte Renewable Energy Limitations
My EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. project office building is interested in particiapating in the local power company's "Green Power Provider" program. Program pays customers back for power generated and sent to the "grid". In our case, we were planning to install PV array on-site. Question: if Project is receiving money back instead of getting to use the actual "power" produced, are we eligible for the EAc. 4 points? We have to submeterSubmetering is used to determine the proportion of energy or water use within a building attributable to specific end uses such as tenant spaces, or subsystems such as the heating component of an HVAC system. for program, so we would know annual amount of power produced onsite. It would just help lower our electric bills by dollar amount instead of kWhA kilowatt-hour is a unit of work or energy, measured as 1 kilowatt (1,000 watts) of power expended for 1 hour. One kWh is equivalent to 3,412 Btu. amount. Here is language from credit that confused me: "For on-site renewable energy that is claimed for LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance credit, the associated environmental attributes must be retained or retired and cannot be sold."
Janna, it is typical for this type of program to purchase RECs from the onsite power installation, thus your project would be selling the environmental attributes and you couldn't aplply this energy to the credit.
EAc4:Purchased REC's
This pertains to RECA Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is a certificate representing proof that a given unit of electricity was generated from a renewable energy source such as solar or wind. These certificates are able to be sold, traded, or bartered as environmental commodities, where an electricity consumer can buy the renewable energy attributes of electricty to support renewable energy, even if they are consuming generic grid-supplied electricity that may be supplied by nonrenewable sources.'s purchased at the corporate level:
My project is a large office building with multiple tenants. One of the tenants purchases a large share of REC's for their entire corporation every year. These REC's cover multiple offices in several locations. This tenant agreed to apportion some of these REC's to cover the electricity consumption for this project's performance period (7 months). I understand USGBC will require a 2 year contract, but can someone please confirm what other type of documentation is required for submission? Do I just need a letter from the tenant stating they are apportioning so many REC's to this building and these REC's will not be credited to any other LEED project? Also, can the 2 year contact begin before the perfomance period? Thanks!
Gwenedd, the 2-year contract could start before the PP.
I think the letter you describe should do the trick. Let us know if anything else comes up!
Calculating the required REC's
This is related to Re-certification.
We purchased 24 months of RECs during our initial certification. We have not determined when our next performance period will end, now or in the 5th year. However the 1st 24 month block of RECs is set to expire soon.
Can we simply utilize the Total Energy kBTU, (converted to mBTU), as identified in our most recent Energy Star SEP, (Dated Nov 2010) to determine the amount needed to meet our goals? Assume we want to capture 100%, simply double the Total Energy mBTU for the next 24 month block?
Thanks
Robin, that seems like a reasonable approach.
Reporting offset purchases on form EAc4
The reference guide is explicit that if you are purchasing off-site renewable energy for fuels combusted on site (Scope 1 emissions), it needs to be done via carbon offsets ("Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. Climate or equivalent"), not RECs.
However, the Green Power Provider Summary table in form EAc4 v3.0 only lists 'Purchase Types' for electricity purchase / RECs:
"Green-e certified power provider
"Green-e accredited utility program
"Green-e accredited tradable renewable certificates
"Green-e equivalent"
(It's clear from the reference guide that "Green-e equivalent" refers to an alternate certification for renewable power, not the Green-e Climate certification for carbon offsets.)
How are we to document purchases of carbon offsets to cover Scope 1 fuel combustion?
In case my original question was not clear enough, I am asking about an apparent problem with a data table in the LEEDOnline EAc4 credit form, not about required documentation.
Hi Michael,
That is a great question. Looking at the LEED EB O&M 2009 submittal template for EAc4- you are correct. There is no option to insert your carbon offsets, or VERs, into the document. I would suggest using "Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. certified Power Provider", document the total kBTU purchased combining both the RECs and Carbon Offsets, and then include in your narrative what was purchased to address your scope 1 and 2 emissions and how the calculations were done. Also, uploading your contract/documentation must be done as well.
Let me know if I can help. LMalone@renewablechoice.com
Lana Malone
Michael, In my experience these little form snafus pop up with regularity, and the typical process for dealing with them is to check the box near that bottom of the form that says "Special circumstances preclude documentation of credit compliance with the submittal requirements outlined in this form", and then explain the problem a bit.
In your particular case, I would choose "Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. equivalent in the table, and then explain that you in fact have Green-e certified offsets and the table just doesn't offer an explicit option for that path. Upload a copy of the contract showing the number of offsets purchased, Green-e status, etc and you should be all set.
Another thing to pay attention to is the form version you have. If you're working with beta forms, it's worth having GBCI set you up with the latest versions so you have fewer of these form bugs to deal with.
Michael,
Thanks for the clarification. Our clients that have come across this issue with LEED forms have addressed the problem in one of two ways. Either they address the issue in the optional narrative section or have just written "Please refer to attached documentation: Name.pdf" in the narrative space and craft up their own form sheet following the GBCI format making sure to make all calculation methodologies visible in the write-up. Obviously, neither of these two solutions are optimal but they usually work.
Jenny, your suggestions on documenting make sense. It is frustrating, though, to have to use 'Special Circumstances' to document standard requirements of the credit (standard, at least, for any project with fuel combustion, as opposed to being 100% electric). As I noted above, our form _is_ version 3.0.
Sorry, missed the bit about the form version. I agree it's frustrating, for which I recommend a dose of LEED therapy/kvetching with your fellow frustrated compadres (I could go on and on about how the NC-centric nature of the forms development process thwarts EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. users, which is what I think is happening here. In NC, for some unknown reason, teams only have to offset electricity).
And maybe using the feedback button in LOL to point out the deficiency.
I had already opened a 'feedback' window when I got your response. (When I first read your last sentence, I thought you were abbreviating "laugh out loud", which would probably be good advice for dealing with LEEDOnline...)
I received a response from USGBC acknowledging that this is a problem in the form (the lack of carbon-offset options in the 'Purchase Type' drop-down). They indicated that a revised version of the form should be available in 4 to 6 weeks.
We have a client that purchased VERs that are Voluntary Carbon Standard and not Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products.. Do you know what type of documentation GBCI / LEED requires to establish the equivalency? Or is it enough if the contract says that the VERs are Voluntary Carbon Standard? Any input is appreciated. Thanks!
I don't hink the VCS is equivalent to Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products., although there is definitely some overlap. I think you would need to dig in deeper to both standards to establish whether they are equivalent for this case.
Definition of On-Site
We received our comments back and they questioned our on-site energy use. We have a co-generation unit that takes the methane gas from the landfill to produce energy.
The reviewers questioned the fact that since the landfill is not within our LEED project boundary then the co-gen probably should not count towards what we consider "on-site"
My question is just because the landfill is not included in our boundary can it really not be considered on-site?
I understood the credit that as long as the "eligible system (our co-gen unit) produces electrical power or thermal energy for use on-site" (EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. Manual, 206) then that should count towards as "on-site renewable energy" right?
And to clarify the landfill and the co-gen are about 2 blocks away from the project building, and the co-gen only serves the project building.
Any help would be great, thanks!
Richard, have you reviewed the MPR supplemental guidance? I think you may find this helpful.
My understanding is that regardless of that, if you are burning the landfill gas onsite, then it qualifies under the defintions in the LEED Reference Guide.
Purchasing REC's after the submittal?
The building owner for our project would like to purchase green power/RECA Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is a certificate representing proof that a given unit of electricity was generated from a renewable energy source such as solar or wind. These certificates are able to be sold, traded, or bartered as environmental commodities, where an electricity consumer can buy the renewable energy attributes of electricty to support renewable energy, even if they are consuming generic grid-supplied electricity that may be supplied by nonrenewable sources.'s to earn EA4 points only if we discover that we are short on LEED points during the certification process (after we've submitted). I've heard this is possible but never actually been through the process. Is this possible? What is the process? We are submitting under LEED EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. First Edition Aug 2008. (not 2009) Thanks for any guidance!
As long as your contract retroactively covers the performance period and extends two years, you should be fine.
Depending on where you are in the process, preliminary or final certification review you can either add the info to your final review submittal (if you get a preliminary review) or appeal the final ruling, pay $500 and add the green power info. Hope this helps.
Does this mean that after the performance period we can still purchase RECA Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is a certificate representing proof that a given unit of electricity was generated from a renewable energy source such as solar or wind. These certificates are able to be sold, traded, or bartered as environmental commodities, where an electricity consumer can buy the renewable energy attributes of electricty to support renewable energy, even if they are consuming generic grid-supplied electricity that may be supplied by nonrenewable sources.'s if we see we are a few points sign of a specific level?
Hi Paul,
Yes, you can still purchase RECA Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is a certificate representing proof that a given unit of electricity was generated from a renewable energy source such as solar or wind. These certificates are able to be sold, traded, or bartered as environmental commodities, where an electricity consumer can buy the renewable energy attributes of electricty to support renewable energy, even if they are consuming generic grid-supplied electricity that may be supplied by nonrenewable sources.'s after the project's performance period as long as it is done before your final submission to the USGBC. Please let me know if we can help!
Lmalone@renewablechoice.com
Lana Malone
Windmill Credit in RECs or Energy Star
Can we get the credit if one of our project has an investment in windmill in India? There is no any Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. Certificate for the same. but as LEED reference guide specify that the certificate is Green-e or equivalent. So what document should be submit to proof the Green-e equivalency.
You'll need to review the Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. standard available from the CRS website and be able to show that this is equivalent. That may be a lot of work!
Pricing - Toolkit
The pricing document in the toolkit does not provide any pricing numbers. I am just trying to get a feel or what costs are in order to achieve this credit. Thanks.
Hi Paul! I'd be happy to put a cost estimate together for you if you'd like some information for your project. Depending on the energy usage will determine your Green Power cost. You can email me at LMalone@renewablechoice.com. Let me know if I can help!
Paul..... I'd be happy to put together a cost estimate for you that would include a variety of alternatives for achieving this credit. Mark.lacroix@carbonneutral.com
Paul, it's generally very cheap, but of course depends on the purchase size and if you have any specific requests (as far as location, type of source, etc.).
Best way to find out is to just get quote from one of these guys, or from one of the many other options out there. You're only going to find very general public info about pricing, because the suppliers want to quote customers directly.
On-Site Renewables - Submeters installed and Performance Period
For our project, the office building has had a Solar Thermal Array that runs one of their packaged ACUs last year We are now installing the BTUA unit of energy consumed by or delivered to a building. A Btu is an acronym for British thermal unit and is defined as the amount of energy required to increase the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit, at normal atmospheric pressure. Energy consumption is expressed in Btu to allow for consumption comparisons among fuels that are measured in different units. submeters to measure the actual energy generated by the Solar Thermal Array used by the ACU. Should the performance period start from installation of the solar thermal array or from the installation of the submeters? LEED Online does not ask for photos, or automatic readings/logs, or calibration reports for the meter. Although, the reference guide asks for documentation of the installed on-site renewable energy systems. Please advise on performance period start date.
Since you can only count onsite renewable energy that is metered, seems like you would be hurting yourself if you started the performance period before the meter is up and running.
Utility Owns Green Power Producer
I have a client that is a utility company undergoing LEED EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. for their headquarters buildings. This company is made up of many smaller energy producers, one of which produces green power. The green power is not Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. certified nor can it be proven that the green power that is produced goes to their headquarter buildings. However, it is safe to say they own a green power utility that introduces green power to the grid. Although they don't pay the green power provider money for electricity (because they own it), is there any known way or CIRCredit Interpretation Ruling. Used by design team members experiencing difficulties in the application of a LEED prerequisite or credit to a project. Typically, difficulties arise when specific issues are not directly addressed by LEED information/guide to capture any points from this credit?
As things stand, you can't earn points under this credit. Since the green power is not Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. certified or the equivalent, it doesn't meet the credit threshold. Secondly, there is nothing connecting this facility with that green power. For all you know, there might be other customers who have purchased all this power specifically due to its environmental attributes, leaving nothing left to allocate to the utility HQ.
You would need to establish Green-e equivalence and then find a way of "selling" that power to the building, or just buy some Green-e RECs on the open market. It's pretty cheap right now.
I just wanted to clarify the
I just wanted to clarify the length of time RECA Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is a certificate representing proof that a given unit of electricity was generated from a renewable energy source such as solar or wind. These certificates are able to be sold, traded, or bartered as environmental commodities, where an electricity consumer can buy the renewable energy attributes of electricty to support renewable energy, even if they are consuming generic grid-supplied electricity that may be supplied by nonrenewable sources.'s need to be purchased over. From what I understand, you purchase a total of two years. At the time of certification you have to have purchased enough credits to have covered the performance period, and have in place a contract to purchase the remainder of the two years, correct? You do not have to purchase enough for the performance period plus two additonal years do you?
Hi Rachael,
You are correct- to earn the green power credit(s) for LEED EB O&M 2009, you have to purchase enough to cover two years of the energy usage of the project. Green Power is should be purchased during the projects initial performance period, which is included in the 2 years required.
Hope this helps!
RECs for other forms of energy?
I’m confused about determining the amount of RECs a project must buy when the building uses electricity and some other form of energy, say natural gas. The ref guide on pg 207 is terribly unclear. It sounds like it is suggesting that we can’t just add up the total energy use in MBtus or KWhA kilowatt-hour is a unit of work or energy, measured as 1 kilowatt (1,000 watts) of power expended for 1 hour. One kWh is equivalent to 3,412 Btu. and then purchase RECs equivalent to two year’s worth based on whatever % total we’re targeting (e.g. 25% for 1 point). Instead, it sounds like we need to buy RECs for the electricity portion (based on its % contribution to the total) and something else, which the ref guide doesn’t really make clear, for the other forms of energy, in this case natural gas (based on its % contribution to the total). Is the latter the case? And is there a different name for these credits that represent renewable natural gas, propane, fuel oil, etc.?
Hi Matthew!
Energy usage from natural gas, purchased steam, fuel oil, or propane should be offset with Verified Emissions Reductions, or VERs- a direct carbon offsetA fiscal unit measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) representing six main categories of greenhouse gases. Aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, one carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide (or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases). Carbon offsets are typically purchased by consumers of fossil fuels or products using fossil fuels, as a way to "offset" or negate their negative environmental impact.. There was a Credit Interpretation Ruling (CIRCredit Interpretation Ruling. Used by design team members experiencing difficulties in the application of a LEED prerequisite or credit to a project. Typically, difficulties arise when specific issues are not directly addressed by LEED information/guide) that was answered by the USGBC on 1/7/2009 which clarifies this information.
This ruling which applies to both LEED EB 2.0 and EB O&M states:
In regards to offsets, with the release of programs like Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. climate to complement Green-e energy, the USGBC agrees that Green power or REC purchases or the equivalent should only be used to offset electricity use, Scope 2 emissions. Scope 1 & 3 emissions from natural gas, purchased steam, fuel oil, or propane use should use carbon offsets, verified through a program like Green-e climate or equivalent.
Please let me know if this answers your question! Please let me know if you'd like to discuss further! lmalone@renewablechoice.com
RECs providers...
In researching RECs options, a municipal utility has a purchasing program that is not itself Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. certified, but they say the RECs themselves are certified. I suspect this means they are purchasing them from elsewhere and that my client should just purchase them elsewhere as well (direct from a certified source).
Good strategy? Would the RECs I've described above get nixed in a LEED application?
Jared, it's not clear whether the RECs being sold by the utilities are Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. certified, or the equivalent. The utility program does not need a certification, as long as the RECs are Green-e certified. If that's the case, you're fine for this credit.
To sacrifice the convenience of buying your RECs from the utility, you'd probably want to be getting a better price elsewhere. It's worth shopping around for that, but the utility may be buying in bulk and getting a favorable rate.
Hi Jared!
We would be glad to help you out! We have provided RECs for over 1,000 LEED projects in the U.S. and internationally, and offer very competitive rates if you would like for us to provide a quote.
http://www.renewablechoice.com/business-LEED-green-power.html
lmalone@renewablechoice.com
Thanks, Tristan and Lana.
Re, timing ... can the RECA Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is a certificate representing proof that a given unit of electricity was generated from a renewable energy source such as solar or wind. These certificates are able to be sold, traded, or bartered as environmental commodities, where an electricity consumer can buy the renewable energy attributes of electricty to support renewable energy, even if they are consuming generic grid-supplied electricity that may be supplied by nonrenewable sources. contract be initiated any time during the performance period? (going forward 2 years, of course)
Yes. You would need to buy them retroactively to the beginning of the performance period, and sign a two year contract as you stated, but it's perfectly legal. That's what we did.
Hi Jared!
I apologize for the late response, but Chris Nixon is correct! You can purchase at any time during the initial performance period. You would need to purchase enough RECs to cover the initial performace period, and an additional two years worth of RECs to cover the next performance period. I hope this helps! Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any other questions!
On Site Renewable Energy
We recently received the following question related to this credit.
"We are a city owned convention center going for LEED EB O&M. Another city department, (Department of Water & Power) has photo voltaic cells located on the roof of our building which generates power. The convention center does not use the power that the photo voltaic cells produce, but the power does go back to
the grid. Can we still get credits for onsite renewable energy even though we
don't use the energy our building produces?"
This scenario should work as long as three conditions are met. The first is that the system needs to be sub-metered, second the RECs associated with the PV need to be retained by the city, and the third is that the city must somehow assign the associated RECs to the project building, similar to how you can use a corporate pool of RECs (see off-site renewable energy) to earn the credit at a specific building, but have to make sure you're not also using those RECs for other claims in other buildings.
Off Site Renewable Energy
According to LEED-EBOMEBOM is an acronym for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, one of the LEED 2009 rating sytems. V3-2009, all energy sources have to be counted. In particular Natural Gas usage. In other words it sounds like they want you to convert all your electrical to KBTU and also the Natural Gas ussage.
My Question is what is the process for purchasing renewable energy to cover the Natural Gas portion. Our utility provider currently determs the percent of renewable energy purchased by automaticaly taking the 30 percent of each meter and multiplys by .03 cents.
How do we implement a process for Natural Gas portion?
You're correct about conversion to kBTU - all energy consumed by the building is converted to kBTU and considered holistically in terms of off-site renewable purchases. In terms of the process for accounting for natural gas, I would suggest contacting Green-eGreen-e is a program established by the Center for Resource Solutions to both promote green electricity products and provide consumers with a rigorous and nationally recognized method to identify those products. for a list of certified providers of carbon offsets. In my experience, that is the most likely path to accounting for gas use.
Hi Reynaldo-
In terms of dealing with offsetting your natural gas usage, you would need to purchase carbon offsets, or Verified Emissions Reductions (VERs). We would be glad to help you out!
http://www.renewablechoice.com
lmalone@renewablechoice.com
Start a new LEED comment thread