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FAQs about EAc6 :

We will have cogeneration onsite. Do the credit requirements apply to all electricity used onsite, or only that which is purchased from the grid?

My project is not located in the U.S. Should I still use the emissions factors from the Energy Star program listed in the Reference Guide, or find something closer to home? 

My project is located in the U.S. Can I buy green power or offsets from another part of the world?

Can I still earn this credit through green power or RECs alone?

Do onsite renewables count? 

The owner has purchased RECs for a percentage of energy use of its whole portfolio of buildings, or whole campus. Can we earn this credit for a single LEED building with this purchase?

The owner purchased RECs / carbon offsets based on an earlier prediction, but our energy model is now showing that we are just a little short of the credit threshold. What should we do?

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CI-v4 EAc6:Green power and carbon offsets

Required documentation

Hello!

I was under the impression that if we have the contractual confirmation that 100% of energy is being purchased through a Green-e or equivalent provider with a term of 5 years, this would meet documentation requirements. However, I'm new to this, and I see that further calculations are included under the submittal form. Do I need to get a full building analysis of energy use? We're only using 4 floors. Thanks!

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Profile picture for user sheffer
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow
7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
4454 thumbs up

Wed, 05/03/2023 - 15:39

It depends on how you are purchasing the green power/carbon offsets and what fuels your project uses. If your project only uses electricity and you have a green power contract for 100% of usage that should be enough without a bunch of calculations. Most other sceenarios require an estimate of the quantity of energy use in order to demonstrate that the purschase is adequate. So what fuels and what is the nature of the contract?

Wed, 05/03/2023 - 20:22

Thanks so much for your reply! The client is purchasing 100% renewable energy for electrical needs but it's not an electric-only building. I'm working on getting further information on that, and whether they have a plan to offset their carbon emissions. Their contract for renewable energy is also only 1 year long, which doesn't appear to meet requirements. It looks like we'll need to estimate the amount of energy that comes from non-electric sources, yes?
Profile picture for user sheffer
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow
7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
4454 thumbs up

Thu, 05/04/2023 - 14:20

This sounds like they are purchasing RECs for electricity. And buy carbon offsets for the non-electric sourtces. So you will need to perform the required calculations that would include both sources. There are two options - you can use the energy modeling results from the Optimize Energy Performance credit or you need to do the CBECS calculations referenced in this credit. The details on how to do both are contained in the Reference Guide.

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