Reporting offset purchases on form EAc4

Hi Michael, That is a great question. Looking at the LEED EB O&M 2009 submittal template for EAc4- you are correct. There is no option to insert your carbon offsets, or VERs, into the document. I would suggest using "Green-e certified Power Provider", document the total kBTU purchased combining both the RECs and Carbon Offsets, and then include in your narrative what was purchased to address your scope 1 and 2 emissions and how the calculations were done. Also, uploading your contract/documentation must be done as well. Let me know if I can help. LMalone@renewablechoice.com Lana Malone

Michael, In my experience these little form snafus pop up with regularity, and the typical process for dealing with them is to check the box near that bottom of the form that says "Special circumstances preclude documentation of credit compliance with the submittal requirements outlined in this form", and then explain the problem a bit. In your particular case, I would choose "Green-e equivalent in the table, and then explain that you in fact have Green-e certified offsets and the table just doesn't offer an explicit option for that path. Upload a copy of the contract showing the number of offsets purchased, Green-e status, etc and you should be all set. Another thing to pay attention to is the form version you have. If you're working with beta forms, it's worth having GBCI set you up with the latest versions so you have fewer of these form bugs to deal with.

Michael, Thanks for the clarification. Our clients that have come across this issue with LEED forms have addressed the problem in one of two ways. Either they address the issue in the optional narrative section or have just written "Please refer to attached documentation: Name.pdf" in the narrative space and craft up their own form sheet following the GBCI format making sure to make all calculation methodologies visible in the write-up. Obviously, neither of these two solutions are optimal but they usually work.

Sorry, missed the bit about the form version. I agree it's frustrating, for which I recommend a dose of LEED therapy/kvetching with your fellow frustrated compadres (I could go on and on about how the NC-centric nature of the forms development process thwarts EBOM users, which is what I think is happening here. In NC, for some unknown reason, teams only have to offset electricity). And maybe using the feedback button in LOL to point out the deficiency.

We have a client that purchased VERs that are Voluntary Carbon Standard and not Green-e. Do you know what type of documentation GBCI / LEED requires to establish the equivalency? Or is it enough if the contract says that the VERs are Voluntary Carbon Standard? Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

I don't hink the VCS is equivalent to Green-e, although there is definitely some overlap. I think you would need to dig in deeper to both standards to establish whether they are equivalent for this case.