This is an industrial manufacturing facility, and we have filed our data online with Energy Star as Other-Other. We have the 3 years of historical data, but really feel like it's unfair to be compared to anything else at this point because few facilities like ours have tried for LEED, so the data is limited and other building types likely don't use the same amount of energy.
So 3 questions:
1. In the offline calculator under "Elgibility" it asks are you one of 3 categories and one of those is "other". If yes then choose option 1. The next question ask if you are anything other than the above options. If yes then choose option 2. It seems ridiculous to have 2 "others" so how do we differentiate between choosing option 1 and option 2?
2. Because comparison data is so limited for our facility type does anyone have any experience or knowledge about options for this credit? We were thinking about designing our own baseline and comparing against ourselves from the past.
3. Does Case 2 Option 2 (3 years of historical data) still compare against other building types that are similar to you or does it allow you to compare to yourself?
Thank you.
Aaron Nelson
7 thumbs up
August 15, 2011 - 11:12 am
Hi Austin,
We have an industrial property we're working on and while we haven't completed certification yet, I can share our approach.
1. If 10% of the building (by square feet) is classified as 'Other' in Energy Star, use Option 2. One catch, Laboratories are considered Other by Energy Star but not by the USGBC.
2. We're planning to use the historical approach. Additionally, I have contacted other facilities to ask if they would share their energy information. Those that return my calls have not been willing to share that information.
3. We read Option 2 as the historical data for the subject property.
Hope this helps,
Aaron