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Easy to research
Pick up the phone, call the local utility and a couple of green power providers—companies that sell renewable energy credits (RECs), which provide funding to renewable energy generation, supporting its development. Give them your project’s estimated energy consumption. Sit back and receive estimates.
That’s all it takes to find out what a purchase of offsite renewable energy will cost, so be sure to consider it—you might be pleasantly surprised. The credit requires you to offset only a percentage of your electricity consumption with RECs to earn points (see diagram at right). You can make a stronger environmental statement and earn an extra Exemplary PerformanceIn...
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86 Comments
Where can I find the Green-e standard?
I believe we have a similar situation as the the one described by Alicia Silva, from Mexico. We have projects in Brazil, which currently has solar and wind energy power plants.
My question is: where can I find 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 to check if those power plants are compliant? And if I didn't misunderstand Marcus answer to Alicia, it is possible to explain compliance even if the plant doesn't actually have the certificate right? That would be life changing for all our LEED projects from now on!
Thanks
you need to demonstrate, that there is a 3rd party certification, in the case of mexico the plant had a third party certification from spain that compied with GREEN E so the points were given yay
The green power product does not need to be 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 it does need to be equivalent to the Green-e standard which has third-party accounting requirements.
You can find the Green-e Standard here - http://www.green-e.org/getcert_re_stan.shtml
Clean energy bought in Mexico
I am working in a project for which my client has made a contract with the Mexican only company to receive 100% of its energy from clean energy source which means wind farms in Oaxaca, Mexico. They comply with the Green e standard but do not have the certification for green e
the wind farms are part of the Mexican National plan to reduce carbon emissions and fullfill the intent of the credit, do you have recommendations for documenting this approach, I already have the contract signed what else should i document.
You will need to demonstrate how the green power source meets all of the requirements of 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. Download the standard and find out how what you are buying complies with each component of the Green-e Standard and write a narrative describing how it complies.
Campuswide power contract
We are doing a LEED project at a college that has an existing contract that covers the entire campus, includes 5% 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. power, and extends more than 2 years past the occupancy date for the building. There are no existing LEED projects on the campus so none of this power has been used to earn LEED certification. Our building will be less than 5% of the total campus electric use, so the amount of green power being purchased under the contract is more than is required for this credit.
1. Can we use this existing power contract and allocate power to our building to meet this credit?
2. The green energy in the contract is tied to 5% of total campus usage, not an absolute amount. Can we use campus wide electric consumption data (we have over a year of data) to show that the amount required for our project is less than 5%?
1. Yes you can, simply provide a letter from the owner stating that x amount of the purchase has been allocated to this particular project.
2. Calculate campus 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. for a year. 5% of that represents the green power purchase kWh. Allocate the amount of green power needed for the project to that project from the amount purchased.
RECs for European project
Hi all,
We would like to buy RECs throught the US market for our project in the Czech Republic (EU). Would you mind to advice me some vendors? I need more quotes for the client.
Thank you for any suggestions.
Jiri, I would recommend getting several quotes from different vendors. 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. website offers a search to find RECs that meet your needs. I don't want to name names, but there are several good companies that are easy to find, including companies mentioned on this forum.
Can a Net Zero Project Pursue this Credit?
We have a project which will have 100% of its power supplied by on-site renewable energy.
We will certainly know consumption due to modeling and planning for the on-site renewable energy, and can, therefore, pursue the necessary Green Power contract, but does this meet the credit intent? If the credit intent is to stimulate green power in the US, then buying green power no matter where our power comes from (such as from our own PVs) should not be an issue.
Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks very much!
We have a similar situation where a solar company ( so the building owner wil not own the pv system) may come in and install pvs and through a power purchase agreement, sell the energy back to the owner at a discounted rate. I was also wondering if this can count for the green power credit if the pvs will generate more that the building's anticipated usage.
I don't think you can double-count between EAc2 and EAc6. This is just my opinion based on my experience with LEED, and not direct experience with GBCI on this, but that's my take on it. You can already double-count EAc2 and EAc1, which is huge. I think EAc6 is more of a consolation prize for projects that can't do onsite renewables.
I contacted GBCI about this and they stated that you can pursue this credit using a conservative approach by buying green power for the electricity consumption estimated PRIOR to counting EAc2 on-site renewable energy. GBCI also recommended applying for 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 for net zero energy projects. Overall, I think this credit needs more clarification, as more and more buildings include on-site renewables.
Distribution and Vintage of REC's purchased in a Portfolio
Our client is a national banking program that has purchased 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 as a corporation in 2010 and 2011 as part of a corporate portfolio program. They have provided the appropriate documentation of contracts, purchase price and power amounts. We have allocated the RECs to cover 100% of annual power usage to our separate LEED Projects (currently 5 different locations). Question #1- Can we allocate the REC’s from 2010/2011 until all of the purchased units are allocated to LEED projects, even though the buildings won’t open until 2012? Is there an expiration of how long REC’s are applicable from a given year? Question #2 – What is the best way to document that we are not “double dipping” on allocating the power to different sites? The GBCI has made comments but will not give any additional information on how they determine the documentation is appropriate. Question #3 – Does the bank need to purchase a new portfolio of REC’s for 2012 for new LEED projects starting in 2012?
Melissa,
You should not have any issues with the 2010/2011 vs. 2012 issue. LEED does not currently require that the generation of the RECs (known as Vintage) match with the occupancy of the project.
Feel free to reach out if you'd like to discuss further.
Green Power for a Net Zero Energy Project?
Our client wants to know if it is possible to buy this credit if the project offsets the electrical loads with PVs? Their goal is NZE and LEED platinum. As long as the energy model in EAp2 shows left over load then it seems pretty straight forward, but what if the load is completely offset by the renewables? In a grid tied net zero energy scenario the project will be "buying" electricity during the year on months that the PVs don't offset the loads and there is a true up period yearly to determine if the loads balanced on an annual basis.
Is the client going to own the system and retain the RECs? If selling the RECs they must be replaced to earn EAc6. If not selling the RECs then you may be able to argue that the system is a grid-source renewable and should automatically qualify the project for EAc6 since you can't buy a negative number of RECs.
Thanks Marcus. That's pretty much what I thought. I was hoping a project had already done this to know if LEED accepts that argument. As it turns out, I will probably have a little load left over that can be used to buy the RECs per LEED credit language. I don't have the time or the budget to argue with the reviewers if I can avoid it.
EAc6 form not calculating savings from renewable energy
The EAc6 form seems to be automatically pulling the total annual electricity use number from the EAp2 form without taking into account our savings from renewable energy. Instead of purchasing green power to offset 36,683 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 EAc6 form is indicating that we need to offset for 63,670 kWh. I'm considering selecting the alternative compliance path and indicating that the kWh number automatically entered in the form is incorrect but first wanted to see if anyone has dealt with this previously or had any guidance.
Hi Michael,
I am not aware of this problem with the form but I can tell you that your green power purchase should be based on the total electricity usage minus the on-site renewable electricity production in most cases. This assumes that the project has not sold the RECs associated with the on-site rnewables. If they have sold the RECs then they must be replaced on a 1 for 1 basis with a green power purchase and cannot be subtracted from the EAp2 electricity usage.
So if they have not sold the RECs then your assumption is correct, if they have then it is not and the form is correct. If they have not sold the RECs and the form is not calculating correctly then check the Special Circumstances box and explain the situation.
Good luck.
3 phase project - when do I need to procure Green Power?
We've evaluated energy consumption during design phase and are working with the owner to determine who we will be purchase credits from. Question is really timing. When does contract need to be in place? Phased move-inPhase 1 of 3, or at the end of Phase 3. Trying to ensure we buy, but at the right time and get best value in procurement. Since this is a "construction" credit, I'd imagine that we need to have contract in place prior to submission of construction credits. Please confirm.
Hey Ted,
There is some flexibility reagrding the purchase date. Since 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. purchase is not tied to the actual use, as long as the two year period covers a phase or phases of operation you should be fine. So either of your scenarios, or somewhere in between, should work.
Yes you will need to have a signed contract in place to confirm the REC purchase.
green power for residential hi-rise
How can this credit be achieved if the building is a high-rise residential building where all apartments are separately metered? This is a rental building. The owner would like to provide green power for the base building meter and recommend to tenants to purchase green power. Would he need to require that tenants get green power? If so, this would only be docuemented via a copy of the lease agreement. Any advice?
This credit can be earned based on the modeling results for EAc1. The owner could simply purchase enough RECs to cover 35% of the projected total for two years. The cost of RECs is still pretty low and this would be the most definitive way to earn the credit.
Obviously recruiting tenants presents some logisitcal problems but would certainly have some educational value.
How do those RECs get transfered to the tenant? Or is the owner just purchasing something that will ultimately not be used? Could you expand on your last response?
If the owner doesn't use the portion for his two year contract, can he sell them to another user?
Lorey, I would not say that they get "used." They get attributed to the electricity usage for the building in those first two years. If you want to earn the LEED credit you have to buy fro the projected total, and you couldn't offload any surplus.
To find out if the projection was correct, you'd have to tally up all the use from all of those apartments.... not a likely task.
I think Marcus was saying that it would be nice to get tenants involved but it's not necessarily relevant to LEED compliance.
A 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. purchase is completely independent of the electricity purchase. They are two different but related things. Buying RECs - the environmentally beneficial aspects of green power - supports renewable energy projects outside government mandates (Renewable Portoflio Standards(RPS)). You can buy as many RECs as you wish and the quantity is not tied to your electric consumption in the market for many types of REC purchases.
Check out 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..org for more information on green power options.
Lorey,
Many 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. providers will deliver the RECs to their partners via what is called an Attestation form. This is a legal document that confirms transfer of ownership of the RECs from one party to another. Other providers may retire the RECs on their customers' behalf.
Feel free to reach out if I can answer any additional questions for you.
NC EAc6 Green Power - what is considered total building power?
To quantify the total building's energy use and determine the 35% threshold to accomodate this credit, do we also include site power such as lighting, security, etc.? We have seperate metering for the building and the site.
The description of the requirements for this credit state that the building's total energy use is required, does this also include site power?
Yes, as long as that site power is within your LEED boundary and supporting the building.
Basically, the scope is the same as for EAp2, if that helps.
Applying for NC EAc6 Green Power - When does this window close?
If a project is teetering on the edge of a higher certification and the possibility of earning the last remaining credit approvals is difficult, can applying for EAc6 at the end of the process be possible? Whewn is it too late to go for the Green Power credit to help boost a project into a higher certification?
This is a construction phase credit--is your project in the Clarification period/ under review with GBCI? If you are already in the Clarification period, I recommend contacting GBCI and requesting the credit be "opened" so you can submit the credit.
We have planned to do this all along and the credit is open, we are realizing now that we might not need to 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 because we are so close to achieving a higher certification. We are trying to be smart about our budget and avoid purchasing REC's if we do not need to. We are concerned that there is a possibility that a credit might not be approved leaving us with the only option of purchasing REC's to accommodate EAc6. We do not want to find ourselves in a situation where we can't achieve EAc6 because we are too late. How will this work?
My understanding is that you can attempt EA6 as late as when you submit your clarifications for the construction review. Any time after that, you would have to appeal the final review. My advice is that you only purchase RECs if you feel uncertain about one of your credits that required clarification. Unfortunately, you run the risk of spending money needlessly either way - the cost of RECs vs. the cost of appeal.
Wind renewable energy- Green Powert
One of our client has already own the wind turbine for 100% of the buildings electricity. They want to show that wind turbine power to meet the LEED requirement. Could you tell me the way to achive this credit points by considering the above creteria. Thanks in advance.
Ramesh, is the wind turbine onsite, or offsite? If it is onsite, then use EAc2. If it is offsite, how far away is it?
Yes, this is in offsite. And this is within india only. The distance between the project site and wind turbine site is around 1500 km.
Ramesh, you would need to show that the turbine meets the equivalent 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. standards, as the credit language requires.
Ramesh, you must also be sure that you are retaining the RECs. While it's more common with solar installations, many PPA providers receive the RECs as part of the agreement. In that situation, the facility will not own any claims to green power usage required for LEED points.
I would guess that the Indian market does not deal in RECs. Establishing 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. equivalency will be difficult. I would suggest you check with the India GBC to see how credit equivalency has been determined there. The India GBC LEED NC version is pretty vague about the qualities of the green power source. If it is 100% wind and it is a new renewable source (post 1997 I think) it should qualify.
Marcus, there have been some very recent developments in India that I thought I would share as there appears to be nascent REC market developing.
At the end of 2010 India’s regulator mandated a 6% renewable energy percentage (similar to a US RPS) from alternative energy, up from a current rate of 4% and rising to 15% by 2020. A REC policy was also launched to support these targets by creating a market linked mechanism allowing green energy generators to earn an additional tariff over and above wholesale the electricity price. As was the case in the early days of the US REC market, the primary use for RECs in India is to serve as a compliance tracking tool for power generators that are covered under the mandate i.e. power generators will trade the RECs with each other.
We do not see the practice of non-regulated firms purchasing Indian RECs on a voluntary basis (as many do in the US for LEED, Green Power Partnership etc.) in the near term as (1) the stretching renewable targets will make compliance RECs very expensive and (2) the practice of voluntary purchases tends to occur once REC markets are mature and the instrument widely accepted and understood.
Near term, the best approach to pursuing green power credits utilizing ‘local’ renewable energy projects in India is to use carbon offsets generated from a renewable energy projects that can demonstrate 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. equivalency. This approach has been utilized as an alternative compliance path on a growing number of LEED projects – especially international projects that desire to support renewable energy ‘closer to home’ rather than through the US based REC market. We have an extensive portfolio of renewable energy offset projects in India and around the world that can demonstrate Green-e equivalency.
Transfering RECs
If a project purchases more green power than it needed, could a separate project use the "unassigned" RECs purchased for that first project if the contract dates are before the year the second project will be occupied? For instance, if the REC dates for the first project are 2009 and 2010, and the second project won't be occupied until 2011, will those RECs count towards LEED? How does this work for universities or other large institutions that purchase enough 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. to ‘cover’ several individual buildings?
Thank you!
Hi Linda!
If the University purchased more Green Power than needed on a particular project, then the extra RECs could technically be applied towards another project, as long as the project was registered with the USGBC before the REC signed contract date. Green Power
can be purchased to achieve the LEED Green Power credits from any point from the initial registration of the project, all the way up to the final submission of the project. Many universities and larger institutions purchase RECs in bulk if they have several registered LEED projects, and they can divvy out the appropriate amount to different projects as needed. We have done this with many clients, and we generate separate LEED submittal documents as the projects request them.
Hope this helps!
process loads
Are process loads considered in the energy model electric consumption, or is it just regulated loads? If they are considered, would the process electric loads be equal to the regulated electric loads divided by three (so as to be 25% of the total electric load)?. If this is indeed the case, then it would seem to conflict with the process loads being 25% of the total loads (gas and electric). For example, If a building used gas for most of its energy, then this would mean that the electrical process load would be much smaller than it would be for a building that used the same amount of energy (gas and electric), but used more electric than gas.
The green power purchase is based on the total electric consumption including process loads.
There is no conflict regarding the 25% process. This has been dicussed in this forum within the EAp2/EAc1 credits. The 25% is not a hard and fast requirement. Model what is in the building. If over 25% process do nothing, if under explain why.
Client has existing Green Power contract
Our project owner has an existing Green Power contract for other power needs on its campus. Does the owner need an entirely new GP contract, or can she simply up the existing contract for the new power demand of our building project?
Even better - if they have a current contract and have not previously allocated any of the green power purchase to previous LEED projects, they can simply write a letter allocating the necessary green power already purchased to this project. So potentially no additional purchase will be needed. This was the case in the past and I don't think anything changed in LEED 2009 so someone correct me if I am wrong.
Difference in kWh
The energy model indicates the electricity use for our project will be 1,272,971 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 client bought 35% green power based on 1,200,000 kWh for 2 years. Is there any margin of error, or should i expect that the client needs to purchase more green power (35% of 72,971 kWh)? Please advise.
Your client should purchase the additional kWhs. It either is or is not at 35%. This frequently happens during the LEED review process when the energy modeling results for EAc1 are modified based on reviewer comments.
that's what i was afraid of...thanks for the quick response!
70% or 100% for EP?
We are pursuing EP for this credit. LEED User states 70% for EP but LEED Online is prompting me for 100%. I'm assuming LEED Online is the most current but wanted to confirm.
Thanks!
Hi Amanda! To answer your question, only 70% would need to be offset for 2 years to receive the EP credit. There is a Document Addenda on www.leedonline.com which states:
In the first line of the paragraph, change the text “100%” to “70%”
so it becomes “Exemplary performance is available to projects
that purchase 70% of their electricity from renewable sources.”
I can email you the document if you'd like, I don't have the web address off hand!
Guess again... LEEDuser is more current. We've updated our content according to all of the LEED addenda, including the one from November 2009 that fixes the EP threshold here at 70%, not 100%.
I'm guessing that either this form hasn't been updated in LEED Online, or you're working with a older version of the form (which would make sense if your project was registered prior to November). I would check the LEED Online homepage to see if an updated version is available, and contact GBCI via "feedback" to have it updated.
Good news! Thanks to both of you!
Tristan: Would purchasing 100% of electricity from renewable sources result in (3) credits?---an extra, exemplary performanceIn LEED, certain credits have established thresholds beyond basic credit achievement. Meeting these thresholds can earn additional points through Innovation in Design (ID) or Innovation in Operations (IO) points. As a general rule of thumb, ID credits for exemplary performance are awarded for doubling the credit requirements and/or achieving the next incremental percentage threshold. However, this rule varies on a case by case basis, so check the credit requirements. credit?
Kathy, you can earn 2 points for meeting the threshold, and a third EP point for meeting a 70% threshold. There is not an additional point available at a 100% threshold.
Does this answer your question?
Indeed, yes!
Thank you so much!
Who Can Execute an REC Contract with Vendor
I haven't found anywhere in the LEED-NC 2009 Ref. Guide that stated which party has to execute 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 with the provider. Does anyone have experience with the GBCI as to whether it is acceptable to upload the executed contract having the general contractor as the signee on behalf of the property owner as long as all the requirements to achieve this credit are met?
Hi Elliot- it is completely acceptable for the general contractor to execute a 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 for EAc6. As long as the project's registered name is documented on the contract, and all of the requirements to achieve this credit are met- it will not be an issue for your submittal! Hope this helps!
To add on to Elliot's question, if the GC is the signee on the executed contract, can the GC also be the signatory on the EAc6 template instead of the owner? Or does the owner still need to be the signatory even if they didn't purchase the green power?
Thanks in advance
The GC can sign the form.
Green Power calculations
I am working on a project that is providing a large array of solar thermal for heating and water heating. We need to achieve the Green Power credit as well. Do I get to subtract my on-site green power production from the energy use in the energy model before doing calculations for amount of Green Power the client will need to purchase?
Your solar thermal system would be included in the proposed energy model and thereby reduce the overall energy use and cost. Assuming that some of the energy being offset by your solar system is electricity then the amount of electricity usage would be lower making your EAc6 purchase smaller. If your solar thermal purchase is only off-setting natural gas (or some other fossil fuel) use however, then your electricity usage would not change. So the amount of electricity you need to purchase would be based on electricity usage from the energy model after subtracting your on-site solar thermal contribution.
Thanks, that is the answer I was hoping to get!
Gold Standard for this credit?
Dear All,
Would a renewable energy provider that has the Gold Standard for carbon offsets be considered similar 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. certification? We do not have any Green-E certified producers here in Turkey, but many Gold Standard certifications for wind power plants.
Omer,
The short answer to your question is that it depends on the project details. We do have projects in Turkey that meet your requirements. We’d be happy to provide details so please feel free to get in touch!
Mark.lacroix@carbonneutral.com
I believe that international projects either must purchase US-based 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. RECs or demonstrate that the RECs they have purchased would meet the Green-e Standard in order to earn EAc6. I don't know if the offsets you refer to meet it or not but getting a copy of the Standard and having the Gold Standard supplier help you with the comparison would be the first step. Obviously the first path is the one of least resistance in the LEED certification review process.
CBECS data (in lieu of energy simulation)
Hi all!
Is anyone familiar with using option 2 for estimating baseline energy use for EAc6 Green Power?
I have the link that takes me to the website but there are so many different tables available and I cannot find one that has data for Median Electrical Intensity by Building Type as shown in the Reference Guide (table 1, page 329).
Thank you.
Hi James!
The CBECSThe Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is a national sample survey that collects information on the stock of U.S. commercial buildings, their energy-related building characteristics, and their energy consumption and expenditures. Commercial buildings include all buildings in which at least half of the floorspace is used for a purpose that is not residential, industrial, or agricultural, so they include building types that might not traditionally be considered "commercial," such as schools, correctional institutions, and buildings used for religious worship. CBECS data is used in LEED energy credits. table can be found at this link:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs/pdf/c10.pdf
It is Table C10- Electricity Consumption and Expenditure Intensities, 1999
Hope this helps!
-Lana
Wow Lana, thanks.
You saved me a lot of digging!
James
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