Do you have comments or questions on this draft? Discuss them below with your fellow LEED professionals. Substantive comments posted here during USGBC's second public comment period  will be submitted to USGBC and considered "official" public comments.

More information on LEED 2012 certification and the second public comment

Energy and Atmosphere (EA)

Major Changes

Eliminated in the first LEED 2012 draft, the Fundamental Refrigerant Management prerequisite is back. The actual credit language is basically unchanged from LEED 2009.

The Optimize Energy Performance credit (1–18 points, in a change from 1–19 points in LEED-NC 2009) is largely the same in this draft in terms of credit language, but the aggressiveness in the point scale that we observed in the first LEED 2012 draft is largely gone. In this second draft, points start at a 12% reduction for new construction (same as 2009, down from 13% in the first 2012 draft), and go up to 46%—down from 48% in LEED 2009 and from 70% for the first 2012 draft. Note that as explained below under the prerequisite, the calculation method has changed, so these percentages are not directly comparable. Details requiring project teams to use the energy modeling process to influence design—rather than using models only to check compliance after the fact—remain in this draft.

USGBC has completely overhauled the Demand Response credit (1–2 points) introduced with the first draft, in response to industry criticism. Key changes are the elimination of on-site generation as an option to earn the credit; more focus on automation technologies, including the addition of manual/semi-automated as well as fully automated demand response options; and additional guidance on process, including initial assessment, training, and financial analysis.

More aggressive point thresholds introduced in the first draft for On-Site Renewable Energy (1–3 points) have been scaled back from the first draft. A top threshold of 25% in the first LEED 2012 draft is now 10%—also down from 13% in LEED 2009. However,  point allocation is reduced from LEED 2009’s 1–7 points, and judged on that basis, the point thresholds are about twice as aggressive.

Green Power and Carbon Offsets (1–2 points) has a more aggressive point thresholds than LEED 2009: 50% for 1 point, 100% for two. As suggested by the new name (in LEED 2009 and previous drafts the credit is simply “Green Power”), the credit now applies to total energy use, not just electricity use.

Minor Changes

Arguably the most important LEED prerequisite, Minimum Energy Performance is remarkably unchanged from the first draft. As introduced in that draft, the new LEED 2012 draft calls for a combination of energy cost and source Energy Use Intensity (EUI) to serve as the key measurement.

The Refrigerant Management credit (1 point) has some apparently minor wording changes. Point allocation is down from 2 points in LEED 2009.

What do you think of the proposed changes to EA? Please post your comments and questions below.