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Hi I'm Charlie Popeck with Green Ideas
and this is the fourth installment of our LEED v4
update. Today will be reviewing the changes that have been made to the
Energy and Atmosphere category
within the new LEED v4 program. As we've told you in past segments, LEED v4
will focus on increasing LEED's technical rigor, expanding the market sectors able
to use LEED,
and will also continue to strive for simplicity.
in terms of usability. Remember,
as we go through the LEED v4 program the prerequisites and credits
have had their language credit clarified.
Some credits have been combined. Others have added credit requirements or options.
Some credit requirements have been moved to another credit.
Some credits have been removed and the options have been distributed among
other credits. Many credits have had
only the reference standard updated. And no substantive changes have been made to
many of the credits.
So let's take a look at the LEED v4
Energy and Atmosphere category. The basic prerequisites
and credits in this category remain the same but there is a new prerequisite
and two new credits. So let's first look at the prerequisites.
The prerequisite previously called
fundamental commissioning of the building energy systems
has been renamed. In LEED v4
it will be called: Fundamental Commissioning and Verification. As I see it
the major changes are: the added requirement for preparing an
operations and maintenance plan and the new requirement to engage a
commissioning authority
by the end of the design development phase.
A clarification as to who can be the commissioning authority
has also been added. The Minimum
Energy Performance prerequisite has had only the reference standard
updated to ASHRAE 90.1-2010
but there's also been requirements added for data centers
and retail specific process load requirements.
The new prerequisite is called: Building Level
Energy Metering and it requires each project to be capable
of measuring whole building energy use. This is much like the new Water
Efficiency prerequisite called:
Building Level Water Metering. Once again
I feel that these prerequisites are extremely important
as they bridge the gap between a construction only
focus and one that will start our industry thinking more about building
operations
and life cycle costing. The fourth prerequisite
Fundamental Refrigerant Management has had no substantive changes.
There are two new credits within the Energy and Atmosphere category:
Advanced Energy Metering and Demand Response.
The new Advanced Energy Metering credit requires
all energy and uses that represent 10 percent or more
of the total energy consumption at the building to be metered
and that the meters must be connected to the building automation system
and log data and appropriate intervals.
This credit is a tie into the new Building Level
Energy Metering prerequisite and once again
I feel that this is a key to improving post construction operations in buildings.
The second new energy and atmosphere credit is called: Demand Response
and it encourages project to design and install systems necessary
to participate in a demand response system
and requires that the demand response processes
are included in the commissioning scope. The On-site Renewable Energy credit
has been renamed to: Renewable Energy Production
and has added provisions for community scale renewable energy systems
and has had its point scale adjusted significantly.
The only credit that's been removed from the Energy and Atmosphere category
is Measurement and Verification. It's been removed because the M&V infrastructure
formerly included in this credit
has been moved to the Building Level Energy Metering prerequisite
and the Advanced Energy Metering credit.
So that's it for LEED v4 changes to the Energy and Atmosphere category.
Details about these changes can be found on the USGBC website.
Please contact me at charlie@egreenideas.com
if you'd like to discuss LEED v4 further or if we can help you with your project.
And once again, remember that each time a new LEED version has been introduced in
the past
the requirements for earning and maintaining LEED Accredited Professional
status changes.
So if your goal is to become a LEED Green Associate or LEED AP,
take the exam now rather than waiting because it's only gonna get harder.
Green Ideas can help with one of our best in class online LEED exam
preparation bundles.
Please visit our website greenideaseducation.com
for more information. So we'll see you again next week when we'll be exploring
major changes to the Materials and Resources category.