We are working on a retail/catering facility that we cannot currently certify as NC because the addition we are doing is not large enough to qualify. However we cannot go for EBOM certification right now because the renovation is too big to qualify. We would like to certify the building in a few years under EBOM once the renovation is done and we can qualify. Right now we are trying to calculate what the energy requirements will be for the EBOM 2012 version for our building, so that we can design within those guidelines to facilitate certification. The 2012 version offers 3 pathways for energy calcs, but I don't think we qualify for any.
1. Energy Star Score - we are not elegible for a score due to our mix of space typologies.
2. Benchmark again Typical Building - The DOE websites says that due to budget cuts they are not doing the CBEC Survery this year. Can we use an old survey?
3. Demonstrate Energy Efficiency - This would require us to wait three years after construction of the renovation. Not only that, it would require us to show a 20% energy improvement over that time period. This creates a weird incentive to design the building really inefficiently so we can show progress - not something we are interested in proposing to the client.
Any thoughts, we are at a loss as to what sort of energy intensity standard we should be shooting for...
Thanks,
Michael Opitz
Director of SustainabilityIconergy
60 thumbs up
January 5, 2012 - 9:16 am
Hello Prudence:
My first suggestion here is that you confirm your project is unable to certify now in either NC or EBOM because of renovation / addition activity. That would be unusual, as LEED v2009 does not intend to exclude projects in your situation. Have you reviewed the current MPR guidance and rating system selection guidance to be sure?
If you stick with v2012 then I recommend Option 2. The reason is simple: Option 1 references ENERGY STAR, which in turn references the "current" CBECS data, which happens to date back to 2003. Option 2 in v2009 also ultimately references the 2003 CBECS. If CBECS is not updated soon then LEED will have little choice but to continue referencing the same CBECS version it does now, i.e., the 2003 data. I would expect this to apply to both Option 1 and Option 2 in LEED 2012.
So, although there are no guarantees, I believe your safest bet is to stick with #2, and select an EUI target relative to CBECS 2003.