September 25, 2007

LEED Complete testing data to reveal building performance

Vince Versace, Staff Writer, Daily Commercial News

‘Building green is catching on but a greater push is needed to learn how buildings perform overall after they are built, says Canada’s Green Building Council president.

“We need to set our sights higher,”says Mueller, CaGBC president. “On an ongoing basis, we do not know how buildings perform overall, and not just LEED ones, but conventional ones.”

Mueller says reaching the CaGBC targets of 50 per cent reduction in energy and water use and having 100,000 buildings and one million homes LEED certified by 2015 is “quite doable.” There is the expertise and skills in Canada’s building sector to make it happen, he says. Mueller spoke at the recent CanaData conference in Toronto.

Buildings are responsible for more than 30 per cent of Canada’s of greenhouse gas emissions, explains Mueller. “Some experts see buildings as the first line of attack on climate change.”

There are limitations to the existing LEED tool, admits Mueller, as it only deals with the built form and doesn’t consider post-construction performance. The green council’s LEED Complete initiative aims apply green standards throughout a building’s life-cycle.

“It is suited to all building and community sizes and types,” explains Mueller. “It is a certification and performance delivery system at all life-cycle stages.”

A key feature of LEED Complete is its progressive certification at key building milestones by accredited providers. Also, all evaluations are based on actual verified performance rather than simulations.

“We need to make it a performance-led system,”explains Mueller.

The CaGBC will hold its first-ever national summit called ‘Shifting into the Mainstream’ in Toronto next year. The summit will present pilot project findings, profiles of the most efficient buildings, showcase best Canadian solutions and next development steps.

There currently are 71 LEED projects across Canada and more than 500 LEED certification candidates. Commercial builders and owners represent almost 40 per cent of both the LEED certified and registered projects in Canada.

The pilot project findings will provide data from school, government and commercial office buildings. The projects helped establish energy and water performance standards, a beta test certification process, determine education requirements and develop accreditation criteria.