Dear All,
I would like to ask your opinion on two things:
- For a core and shell project the 15% portion for C&S energy still applies, so we have to offset that amount?
- If we stay at version 4 but want to substitute the actully two credits with this 4.1 version, can we buy both RECs and carbons offsets in order to achieve the maximum 5 points?
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5868 thumbs up
January 31, 2020 - 12:10 pm
I believe that answer is yes. You can earn more points in 4.1 for green power/carbon offsets than you can for them in v4.
Norbert Szircsak
Colliers International11 thumbs up
January 31, 2020 - 12:24 pm
Many thanks Marcus, just to make sure so yes for both(?) :) the 15% rule for C&S energy is the same in v4.1, and if our project remains in v4 we still can use this v4.1 credit to substitute the EAc5 and EAc7 credits in v4.
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5868 thumbs up
January 31, 2020 - 12:36 pm
Not sure about the 15%. Did you check the credit language and the Reference Guide?
Norbert Szircsak
Colliers International11 thumbs up
February 10, 2020 - 3:42 am
Sorry for the late reply weekend started here and I forgot about it, but yes I did check both the official v4 and beta 4.1 guide.
The 4.0 guide specifically indicates the 15% for core energy, the 4.1 doesn't say anything about it but as the guidance description starts this: "Refer to the LEED v4 reference guide, with the following additions and modifications:" I would assume the same applies in 4.1 too, just wasn't sure.
Thanks again for the confirmation.
timmy lander
1 thumbs up
February 10, 2020 - 7:15 am
I also agree that in v4 you can achieve more than it seems at first glance
Allan Robles
Sustainability AssociateUrban Fabrick, Inc.
7 thumbs up
April 21, 2020 - 5:58 pm
Hey Norbert (and the rest of the LEED User forum),
We're in a similar boat trying to confirm whether to use the 15% or if it's calculated off of the total site energy usage including tenant space. Was this ever confirmed? I couldn't find that same reference in the guide.
Also, we're confused as to how to address non-electricity sources for Tier 4 (ex: natural gas, cooling, hot water, etc.). Does this mean for those sources we have to also purchase carbon offsets in Tier 4? Or is that type of purchase strictly for the carbon offsets pathway?
Norbert Szircsak
Colliers International11 thumbs up
April 22, 2020 - 10:46 am
Hi Allan,
Well the guide says: "A core and shell building’s energy is defined as the energy usage of the core and shell floor area as defined by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) standards, but not less than 15% of the project’s floor area."
So if you can model the C&S area energy consumption then that's it (but no less then 15% of the total), or as a rule of thumb you can use 15% of the total energy (including tenant), in my interpretation.
As for your other question I'm also clueless, it says: "...based on the percentage of total site energy use." but there is a total separate option for carbon offsets, it would be odd to have it in both parts.
They should be more clear on that.
Allan Robles
Sustainability AssociateUrban Fabrick, Inc.
7 thumbs up
April 22, 2020 - 11:48 am
Hey Norbert,
On the first half, I should've clarified by saying that the guidance for Core and Shell projects is absent (as far as I can tell) in LEED v4.1. But my opinion with our team is that we should be following LEED v4's guidance as you noted so thanks for that.
As for the other question, my opinion is also such that you can also choose to follow the carbon offsets with other non-electricity sources of energy. But as you noted it's probably just a clarification that needs better spelling out. I have an email out to USGBC via LEED Coach to confirm, so I'll report back as soon as I get a response.