Postoccupancy Energy Consumption Survey of Arizona’s LEED New Construction Population
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 138, Issue 6
Abstract
Existing literature has not provided conclusive performance results for green building energy efficiency. Existing studies produced debated conclusions and failed to represent a geographic concentration of structures from hot and dry climates. This technical paper examines 47% of Arizona’s 53 building Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for New Construction (LEED NC) building population in an effort to determine if Arizona’s LEED NC buildings achieve expected energy performance, how they compare with the existing building population and whether either system or managerial variables demonstrate efficiency correlations. Data collection efforts were successful for all desired deliverables. Analysis of the LEED NC sample returned mixed results. On average, Arizona’s LEED NC medium energy intense (MEI) buildings performed better than the national average yet worse than buildings located in similar climates. Certain LEED NC MEI building types did demonstrate greater efficiencies than the corresponding Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey population. Arizona’s high energy intense (HEI) structures performed considerably lower than national and similar climate averages. The LEED NC sample also underperformed both the design and baseline energy use simulations. Energy consumption correlation analysis returned very few statistically significant results. The study’s results demonstrate to industry practitioners and researchers that the LEED NC rating system’s energy strategies fail to meet modeled efficiencies, thereby highlighting a need for ongoing scrutiny and diligence when measuring sustainability and efficiency within Arizona’s built environment.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Diamond, R., Herrera, S., Hicks, T., Opitz, M., and VonNeida, B. (2006). “Evaluating the energy performance of the first generation of LEED-certified commercial buildings.” Proc., 2006 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Washington, DC, 3, 41–52.
Dunn, S., and Makela, E. (2008). Going beyond code: A guide to creating energy efficient and sustainable buildings in the southwest, Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, Boulder, CO.
Energy Information Administration. (2003). “Overview of commercial buildings, 2003.” Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, Washington, DC.
Environmental Protection Agency. (2009). “Energy star performance ratings: Methodology for incorporating source energy use.” 〈http://www.energystar.gov/ia/business/evaluate_performance/site_source.pdf〉 (Oct. 23, 2009).
Facilitiesnet. (2006). “LEED rating system scores top rating in GSA study.” 〈http://www.facilitiesnet.com/green/article/LEED-Rating-System-Scores-Top-Rating-in-GSA-Study--5351〉 (Sep. 12, 2009).
Gershman, J. (2009). “Fake green labels, buildings don’t save energy.” The New York Post, Sep. 21, 2009. 〈http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/fake_green_labels_aU9PWSSD4p71LigLp0z4eO〉 (Oct. 22, 2009).
Gifford, H. (2009). “A better way to rate green buildings.” 〈http://www.energysavingscience.com/〉 (Nov. 1, 2009).
Lockwood, C. L. (2006) “Building the green way.” Harv. Bus. Rev.HABRAX, 84(6), 129–141.
Lockwood, C. L. (2008). “The ‘greening’ of corportate real estate.” The Leader, 7(3), 14–20 〈http://www.charleslockwood.com/pdf/CRELeader%2005-08.pdf〉 (Sep. 5, 2009).
Navarro, M. (2009). “Some buildings not living up to green label.” New York Times, Aug. 8, 2009. 〈http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/science/earth/31leed.html〉 (Aug. 30, 2009).
Newsham, G., Birt, B., and Mancini, S. (2009). “Do LEED-certified buildings save energy? Yes, but….” Energy Build.ENEBDR, 41(8), 897–905.
Scofield, J. H. (2009). “A re-examination of the NBI LEED building energy consumption study.” 〈http://www.oberlin.edu/physics/Scofield/pdf_files/Scofield%20IEPEC%20paper.pdf〉 (Nov. 23, 2009).
Turner, C. (2006). LEED building performance in the cascadia region: A post occupancy evaluation report, Cascadia Region Green Building Council, Seattle, WA.
Turner, C., and Frankel, M. (2008). “Energy performance of LEED for new construction buildings.” 〈http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=3930〉 (Mar. 4, 2008).
United States General Services Administration (GSA). (2008). “Assessing green building performance, a post occupancy evaluation of 12 GSA buildings.” The Applied Research Program, Washington, DC.
United States General Services Administration (GSA). (2009). “Energy savings and performance gains in GSA buildings, seven cost-effective strategies.” The Applied Research Program, Washington, DC.
United States Green Building Council (USGBC). (2005). LEED NC—Green building rating system for new construction & major renovations version 2.2, Washington, DC.
United States Green Building Council (USGBC). (2009). “Green building by the numbers—Green building facts.” 〈http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1718〉 (Jul. 26, 2009).
Walraven, B. W. (2007). “Green payback—Facility professionals around the country are making the business case for green design and operations.” Today’s Facility Manager, 2007(4), 〈http://www.todaysfacilitymanager.com/tfm_07_04_fmissue.php〉 (Sep. 22, 2009).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 138 • Issue 6 • June 2012
Pages: 742 - 750
Copyright
© 2012. American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 22, 2010
Accepted: Aug 31, 2011
Published online: Aug 31, 2011
Published in print: Jun 1, 2012
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.