New LEED-EB Unveiled at IFMA’s World Workplace ‘07

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently unveiled its newest version of LEED for Existing Buildings building certification system at the International Facility Management Association's annual World Workplace Convention and Trade Show at the New Orleans Convention Center on October 25, 2007.

A board member with USGBC explained that there are 45 million buildings in our country, covering billions of square feet. It is not enough to simply consider new construction projects alone. This green emphasis must also be retro-applied to existing buildings in order to make a world-wide impact on our environment. If we truly want to make a difference, then we must also get our existing buildings green as well.

LEED-EB Operations and Maintenance includes fewer program prerequisites, a greater emphasis on facility operations and maintenance, updated reference standards, and amplified sections on water efficiency, energy performance, building commissioning, and green cleaning.

The rating system and submission process were created as a joint effort between the USGBC LEED-EB steering committee, IFMA, and BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association).

Some of the changes include:

• 50% more points for energy efficiency, and new credits for energy best practices (including building auditing and commissioning)
• 50% more points eligible than previously available for water efficiency issues
• Green cleaning has been consolidated into a single category with an emphasis on achieving a comprehensive green cleaning program, with performance metrics to highlight effectiveness
• All credits in the Materials section have been sorted into groups, including consumable goods, durable goods, and facility reconfigurations, alterations, or additions
• References to third-party standards have been updated to include latest versions, particularly ASHRAE 62 and 55, the UPC (Uniform Plumbing Code), Environmental Choice, Green Seal, EnergyStar, and CRI Green Label Plus
• Prerequisites have been reduced from 13 to nine

Click HERE to view the ’08 update on the USGBC Website!