Foundations in Sustainability

an excerpt from Foundations in Sustainability, Copyright 2009 by Tom Coalson

Where Does Certification Fit In?

Ultimately, any definition of sustainability will be “measured” by some set of guidelines (or metrics) that will provide standardized measurements for how green a building truly is. Most definitions of “green” are notably lacking in providing us with a yardstick whereby we can measure “how green is green.” What may be lacking in definition is more than made up for with measurement systems, a.k.a. “certifications.” This is where the whole idea of a universal definition for “green” begins to get messy.

More often than not, those competing for market share in the sustainable certification industry, either by outright statement or inference, Energy Star Partner proclaim their superiority not on their definition of what constitutes sustainability, but on the USGBC LEED measurement system or “metrics” chosen to determine the one that is best. To be clear, these “metrics” are a specific methodology, a set of rules if you will, that measure the overall sustainability of a given building. There are a number of certification systems currently in use and the one thing that every one of them has in common is that they have nothing in common. Regrettably, there is no one, definitive standard of measurement accepted by all organizations. Each of these systems differs in both content and approach that reflects the different aspects of sustainable building chosen for measurement. Moreover, for those who care to scratch beneath the surface, the outlooks and agenda of the competing organizations and their certification programs becomes readily apparent.

As an example, there is absolutely no debate that the USGBC’s LEED for Homes rating system is vastly more rigorous than the NAHB’s Model Green Home Building Guidelines©. Contrast the USGBC’s list of prerequisites and credits to page 5 of the “Introduction to the NAHB Guidelines:”

Ease of Implementation—Some line items are easier to implement than others. The NAHB team compared each line item with current home building practices and estimated how difficult it would be for a builder to implement the line item relative to cost and time. For instance, would it take longer to install a new technology? Would subcontractors need to be educated on the use of a new product? Would a new technology cost more to buy? A line item will have a positive environmental impact only if it is implemented. Line items that were relatively easy to implement (and therefore more likely to be implemented) were assigned a greater point value than the items that are more difficult to implement.1 (Emphasis ours)

The difference in methodologies and perspectives couldn’t be more diametrically opposed.

While we could go on at length about the benefits and shortcomings of the different certification systems available in the marketplace, we will instead focus our attention on the two most popular in use today: the USGBC’s LEED program and the EPA’s Energy Star rating system.

---

USGBC and LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design)

---

For commercial real estate, the USGBC’s LEED certification program is becoming the clear leader. The number of buildings certified seems to double every year while the number registered to undergo certification seems to triple. Widely recognized in the commercial building industry, the LEED brand is synonymous with energy and resource efficiency.

With four degrees of achievement,

• Certified
• Silver
• Gold and
• Platinum

the point-based system publicly recognizes a building owner’s commitment to achieve sustainability at an unusually high level in his market area.

The LEED program achieves this lofty distinction by setting the bar high with a mandatory set of prerequisites that must be fulfilled for certification to be granted. In addition, a certain number of points must be achieved for each level of certification, those points coming from the adoption, use and self-imposed rules regarding energy management, water management and waste management.

The new 2009 LEED for New Construction (NC) program is broken down into ten categories:

• Innovation & Design Process
• Locations & Linkages
• Sustainable Sites
• Water Efficiency
• Energy & Atmosphere
• Materials & Resources
• Indoor Environmental Quality
• Innovation in Design
• Awareness & Education
• Regional Priority

Each of these categories is broken down further by prerequisites and credits. These categories, prerequisites and credits are designed to approach building-sustainability in a “holistic” approach rather than a patchwork of scattered and unrelated efficiencies.

Its underlying principle is “synergy,” meaning that the overall effort in the design, construction, operations and maintenance of any building is significantly greater than the sum of each individual part.

Each piece acts, reacts and (hopefully) enhances every other part of the building’s systems making the building operate in as efficient a manner as possible. If done well, there are many proven benefits of this approach for both commercial and residential structures.

Some of these are:

• Lower utility and operating costs
• Longer lifespan and less frequent replacement of equipment and systems
• Reduced incidence of “sick building syndrome” leading to healthier and happier families and employees
• Higher employee productivity and less turnover
• With current financial incentives, relatively quick return-on-investment (ROI) and better bottom line profits
• Increased property values and rents for both commercial and residential buildings

In order to reflect the increasing demand for their certification system, the new USGBC LEED 2009 program has developed or upgraded five separate rating systems for:

• New Construction
• Core & Shell
• Schools
• Existing Buildings-Operations & Maintenance
• Commercial Interiors

There are an additional two rating systems:

• LEED for Homes
• LEED for Neighborhood Development, which remain unchanged from their most recent versions.

Drawbacks and Benefits

The most common complaints heard in the industry about the LEED certification program are that it is costly and that it is overly burdened with paperwork. When compared to other certification systems, this is true. No other certification system requires as much preparation and documentation as LEED does. It can be frustratingly time-consuming for the novice and more often than not, this leads to hiring an outside consultant to manage the preliminary groundwork, paperwork, inspections and submittals required for the process.

Hiring a consultant is just the first of the costs. The consultant will register the project and there will be fees associated with this as well.

• Currently, single-family registration and certification fees are $375 (member price).
• For multi-family and commercial projects, the fees are considerably higher: for multi-family, registration is $450 and certification fees are 3½¢/square foot.
• Registration fees for commercial projects are also $450, but the certification fees vary from a minimum of $1,750 to a maximum of $17,500, depending on the size of the building.

Additional costs may be incurred, most particularly for large commercial projects where the use of an architect, interior space designer, and MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) engineer is required. Since these costs are almost always included in any new or renovation construction project, any additional fees associated with providing these services should be minimal.

• As time goes on and sustainable building is the rule rather than the exception, these costs will simply be absorbed into the project total as a matter of course.

The primary benefit of the LEED program is delivering to the consumer a high-performance building. Buildings and homes such as these have far less of an impact on the environment by reducing their carbon footprint and resource usage.

The secondary benefit is brand recognition for the LEED product. While widely known in the commercial and industrial building sectors, it is less so in the residential market. Slowly, that is changing as builders and developers recognize the competitive advantage that offering a LEED-certified home offers.

---

The Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Star®

---

Without question, when it comes to brand name recognition for energy efficiency, Energy Star is far and away the leader. The EPA’s research has shown that 78% of Americans recognize the name and what it stands for.

Typically, however, consumers identify Energy Star with efficient appliances and lighting. There are fewer who realize that the same brand applies to buildings and building products.

There are a number of benefits that Energy Star offers.

• First and foremost among these is Federal tax credits for using energystar.gov Energy Star certified products.
• Whether it’s insulation, windows and doors, roof coverings, heaters and air conditioners, water heaters or biomass stoves, consumers can take advantage of a 30% tax credit, up to $1,500 on each of these items.
• When it comes to energy generating systems, 30% of the total cost can be claimed as a tax credit, with no cap.
• That includes geothermal heat pumps, solar panels, solar water heaters, small wind energy systems and fuel cells.
• Additionally, some participating manufacturers, retailers and utility companies offer rebates on appliances and building products that are Energy Star rated.
• These same credits and rebates are available to anyone meeting the requirements set by the EPA, no matter whether or not they choose to certify their building under any system.

Both commercial and residential buildings can pursue different programs designed to lead to the “Energy Star Qualified” rating. To meet Energy Star guidelines, homes must be at least 15% more energy-efficient than those built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC).

The level of the rating is based on a scoring system called the “HERS Index” (Home Energy Rating System) managed by RESNET (Residential Energy Services Network), a third-party verification service.

• Based on 100 points (100 being the equivalent of the “Reference Home,” or, if you will, yardstick), every 1 point decrease from the Reference Home baseline signifies a corresponding 1% reduction in energy consumption.
• Thus, a home with a score of 75 (the minimum required for certification) is 25% more efficient than the baseline model.

It is no longer uncommon to see scores in the 50 or less range as a growing number of builders move their businesses toward complete sustainability.

• To come up with a score of 0 is the ultimate achievement.
• These homes Courtesy the EPA/Energy Star (and they’re few and far between) are known as “net-zero homes,” indicating that this home will produce as much energy as it consumes.

On the other hand, for commercial buildings, optimal performance is a score of 100.

• The paths to certification for residential and commercial are different, but both require retaining the services of a third-party rater to verify compliance with the Energy Star guidelines.
• As noted above, a HERS Rater is required for homes while a Professional Engineer is required to document and verify compliance for commercial buildings.

While achieving an Energy Star certification is somewhat easier than that of LEED, it is important to note that as of 2009, LEED made it mandatory to achieve a certain Energy Star level of performance for certification under their own program.

Energy Star is far less rigorous than LEED in that it does not address as complete a range of sustainability issues, such as:

• Water and resource conservation
• Transportation and
  
• Urban development.

Still, it is no less a valuable certification to pursue.

• Not only is it the most recognizable brand in the industry, but also the costs are far less, primarily being limited to the rater that does the compliance inspections.
  
• Better yet, there are no certification fees charged by the EPA as there are with LEED.
• That makes it especially desirable for those pursuing a LEED certification to also achieve an Energy Star rating since there are a number of raters accredited to perform compliance inspections for both.

The EPA is in the process of updating their rating system for new homes.

• Scheduled to take effect in 2011, the new program will up the ante by requiring certified residences to meet the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC)
• A step up from the previous 2004 IRC.

The reasoning behind the change is as stated in the “Proposed New Guidelines for Energy Star Qualified New Homes:”

EPA is revising the guidelines for ENERGY STAR qualified homes to ensure that homes that earn the label continue to represent a meaningful improvement in energy efficiency over homes that that are built to code or standard builder business practices. These new guidelines, referred to for clarity as ENERGY STAR 2011, will help EPA meet its broader goal of transforming the housing industry to build homes with less environmental impact and increased homeowner benefits, including greater affordability through lower energy bills along with improved comfort, indoor air quality, and durability. 2

Both the LEED and Energy Star programs point to one particular facet of sustainable building that has yet to be adequately addressed by any of the certification programs.

• That is to say, are there varying “shades of green?
• The answer is, of course, yes.

Unfortunately, there are now certain factions who have taken it upon themselves to determine that a “truly green building” can’t be considered green unless certain criteria (established by that faction, of course) are met.

The current argument begs the question. If there are no universal green standards to begin with, how can we even begin to assess just how green any building is?

• It is, no doubt, the reason for so many certification standards on the market.
• Each has created their own set of standards and, based on each system’s guidelines, certain minimum standards must be met to be able to claim a building to be green, and
  
• Increased levels of achievement beyond minimum standards (in most cases) determine just how green a building is.

There are many in the industry who feel that the time is long overdue for a single set of green standards to be fashioned and adopted industry-wide.

• With as many competing interests as there are, that is unlikely to happen anytime soon, if at all.
• It is far more likely that the stronger certification systems (LEED and Energy Star in the U.S. and BREEAM in the U.K. and Europe) will end up defining for the industry exactly what green is, and how green is green.

As more consumers recognize the superiority of these certification systems, it is only a matter of time until the others are winnowed out.

---

1 NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines, © 2006, by National Association of Homebuilders, All Rights Reserved

2 “Proposed New Guidelines for ENERGY STAR Qualified New Homes” © 2009, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=bldrs_lenders_raters.nh_2011_comments

---