1 December 2014

COMPARISON OF GREEN BUILDING

STANDARDS

By Birk Madsen, A.Sc.T.

2 December 2014

INTRODUCTION:

We have all heard about the impact of climate change that is brought about by burning of non-

renewable fuels and environmental degradation. The face of urbanization and the hard

surfacing of ever larger cities are also having an impact when the majority of the earth’s

population lives in cities. The built environment also consumes a significant amount of energy.

In Canada buildings use nearly one-third of our total energy, two-thirds of our electricity, one-

eighth of our water and transform land that provides valuable ecological resources. (CaGBC

web site)

Canadians consume 33% more energy per unit of GDP than the USA. The social impacts and

the cost of doing nothing will continue to rise as more GHG are released into the atmosphere

and the operating costs of conventional buildings increase. Unless there are fundamental

changes to the way we look at buildings and energy use, climate change will become more

pronounced. Like in the transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age eventually change

occurs due to a need to improve performances and reduce costs through innovative ideas.

Social demand is currently changing regulations such as the new Vancouver Building By-law

which takes effect January 1, 2015, requiring buildings to perform more efficiently. The intent is

to transition toward a sustainable developmental model. Being idealistic and reducing climate

change is nice but in a capitalistic economy change will not occur unless it makes business

sense and is cost effective. The Real Property Association of Canada is the “premier” industry

association for investment property leaders”, who’s member’s represent $150 billion in assets

and publishes an annual report on how its members are meeting its sustainability challenge.

Large property management companies, such as Ivanhoe Cambridge (owner of Guildford Mall

with assets of $40 billion), have dedicated staff and a sustainability policy to improve the

company’s bottom line and increase shareholder equity.

Standards provide a method of comparing building energy use against others buildings of

similar types in similar industries. The standards are verified by a third party so that others

looking at the building will know it is operated optimally and professionally. This can improve

resale and require less regulatory review for renovations. Some standards are more costly to

implement than others and the application of standards is dependent on the type of building,

new or existing.

The purpose of a building is for humanity to live and work. Improving the environmental quality

in the building improves the health for those inside. Using natural light, utilizing solar exposures,

good HVAC practices, having good outdoor views, all contribute to a healthy and productive

environment. LEED is a well-known green building standard for construction of public facilities.

BOMA BESt, BREEAM, Energy Star, Certified Passive House and the Living Building Challenge

are less known standards but will be compared in this report. When are they used and why?

This report outlines and provides a general comparison of each standard.

The demand for greener practices supports a growing market for green building products, such

as energy and water efficient fixtures. As new products are developed the cycle of continual

3 December 2014

improvement of existing building systems is performed thereby further reducing energy

consumption. Education of best practices and innovation will lead to a broader understanding of

the interrelationship of various building systems and ultimately better performing buildings. The

BC Building Code is incorporating improved practices which have been verified through the

green building rating systems.

This report will focus on green commercial building rating systems. Lighthouse Consultants

completed a study in December 2014 outlining the performance of buildings in BC. Public

knowledge of these green building rating systems is limited and where do you go to find out

details of each? This report will give a brief summary of each so you can decide which green

rating system will work for you and provide a base for further investigation.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVENTS AND STANDARDS:

1842 Englishman Edwin Chadwick published Report on the Sanitary Condition of the

Labouring Population of Great Britain was the first time in history environmental conditions were

recognized as the cause of disease. This gave rise to the Public Health Act of 1875 which had

specific implications to buildings and neighbourhood developments.

1973 Energy crisis brought energy conservation to the International stage due to soaring

costs.

1975 ASHRAE develops energy Standard 90-1975 in response to the Energy Crisis. This

evolved into standard 90.1 which is widely referenced in many green building standards.

1978 US Congress passes the Energy Policy and Conservation Act which stated to receive

federal funds States would need to initiate energy conservation standards for new

buildings.

1982 R2000 Standard introduced in Canada.

1990 First certified Passive House was built in Germany. The rating system used information

from Saskatewan Conservation House which was built near Regina in 1977.

1992 US Environmental Protection Agency establishes the Energy Star program.

1998 The Barret Commission releases its final report on the “Commission of Inquiry into the

Quality of Condominium Construction in BC”.

2002 US Green Building Council introduces LEED standard.

2004 ASHRAE 90.1 Standard was applied to buildings, the envelope, and majority of the

mechanical and lighting systems.

2005 BOMA BC establishes the Go Green Plus Program.

4 December 2014

2006 United States Green Building Council (USGBC) contributed to the development of a new

national minimum green building standard. Standard 189 was developed in partnership

with the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers

(ASHRAE), and the Illuminating Engineers Society (EIS).

2008 BC adopted improved energy and water efficiency requirements within the BC Building

Code.

2008 The European Union resolution calls on each member state to adopt the Passive House

Standard by 2016 for all new construction and major renovation projects.

2009 The CaGBC formally adopts the Living Building Challenge as an official program.

Through the Cascadia Green Building Council the institute offers focussed programs in

British Columbia.

2009 BOMA BC and BOMA Ontario rebranded the Go Green program into BOMA BESt

(Building Energy Standard)

2009 Energy Star performance standard replaced the R2000 Standard.

2010 California launches its Green Building Standards Code.

2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) includes ASHRAE standard 90.1

2013 BC adopted the 2011 National Energy Code for Buildings (NECB) and ASHRAE 90.1

(2010) as compliance options in the BC Building Code for Large residential, Industrial,

and Commercial buildings.

2014 Nov 25, ASHRAE releases Standard 189.1 – Standard for the Design of High-

Performance Green Buildings. The International Code Council, ASHRAE, the American

Institute of Architects, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and the US

Green Building Council sign a memorandum to collaborate on the development of future

versions of Standard 189.1

2014 Dec 19, BC Building Code will introduce energy efficiency requirements for houses and

small buildings (Part 9.36 Buildings).

2015 January 1, New Vancouver Building Bylaw (VBBL) 9419 becomes effective requiring

energy use be 20% less than 2007 levels for new construction.

WHY HAVE GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS:

In a recent study, EPA found that buildings that were benchmarked consistently reduced energy

use by an average of 2.4 percent per year. And, buildings that started out as poor performers

saved even more. See EPA’s Portfolio Manager Data Trends series for more information.

5 December 2014

In the U.S. green building construction grew from 2% in 2005 to 44% in 2012.1

This provides organizations a lower operating cost to remain competitive in a world economy.

A Green Building Rating Standard, is a system to compare the performance of similar building

types. Green buildings are designed to;

1. Efficiently use energy, water, and other resources.

2. Protect occupant health and improving employee productivity.

3. Reduce waste, pollution and environmental degradation.

The design of green buildings requires a holistic approach from a design team that can analyze

the optimum building systems. Once constructed into the building the buildings performance will

impact less on the environment and require less energy to maintain and operate.

One metric in the rating system is to measure a building’s Energy Use Intensity (EUI). The units

are KWh/m2/year and are compared with other similar types of buildings. Other metrics such as

environmental qualities are also incorporated into a rating system.

One of the key requirements is a third party confirms the performance so that there is no bias in

the assessment. This provides building owners a standard to compare their performance in

relation to others, across similar asset classes.

Buildings that are certified to a recognised standard are more likely to have staff engaged in

activities linked with continuous improvement and will therefore benefit from operational

savings. Recertifying a building is strongly associated with improving the buildings performance

or as a minimum is maintaining the building in optimal performance. Some of the benefits are;

Lower operating cost.

Future proofing against competition and rising utility costs.

Future proofing against pending regulation. Simpler regulations when renovating.

Less environmental impact.

Improved occupancy comfort and productivity. Less sick days.

Attracts tenants who want to make a sustainability commitment.

Enables staff to understand how their facility is performing and how to make

improvements. Informed users adjust buildings controls to optimum.

Eligibility for responsible investment.

Company brand.

Simplified Reporting.

1. (World Green Building Trends: Business Benefits Driving New and Retrofit Market Opportunities in Over 60 Countries,

McGraw-Hill Construction Research & Analytics, 2013)

6 December 2014

THE GREEN STANDARDS:

Green buildings are specifically designed structures that reduce the overall negative impact of

the built environment on human health and the natural environment by;

Efficiently using energy, water, land and materials

Protecting the occupant health and improve employee productivity

Reducing waste and pollution from each building

Continuously looking for ways to improve performance

High-performing green buildings address sustainable development throughout the building’s

entire life cycle. This is best achieved in the design phase where various options can be

analysed and modeled for optimum performance prior to construction. A collaborative design

team will analysis the pros and cons of each option that can impact across multiple building

systems. An example of this is green buildings are designed to be nearly air tight so require

good air circulation and exhaust air can be used to preheat the fresh air.

Imposing current green standards on existing structures is difficult and costly especially when

the building envelope may not be air tight and not constructed to current standards. However

improvements to building performance can be achieved, it is just to what degree it is cost

effective. As existing building systems need to be replaced new and improved equipment is

being added. Commissioning of new equipment can lead to the review of other building systems

that are interrelated.

There are a number of green building standards to assess a building with the most well-known

in Canada being LEED certification. This standard is required for all new public building

construction however it can be the most expensive to attain. Since 85% of buildings were

constructed prior to 1989 this does not work well for the existing building stock that has thin

walls and is not air tight.

A company’s formal environmental policy provides guidelines for the business operations as

well as demonstrates awareness and commitment to operating responsibly. A strong

environmental policy should include the precautionary principal which states that if an action or

policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or environment companies should

even in the absence of regulation, take action to minimize harm.

For this comparison the following prominent green building standards will be compared;

1. LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design http://www.cagbc.org/

2. BOMA BESt: Building Owners and Managers Association, Building Energy Standard

http://www.bomabest.com/

3. BREEAM: http://www.breeam.org/

4. Energy Star Portfolio Manager:

http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/efficiency/buildings/energy-benchmarking/3693

5. Passive House: http://www.passivehouse.ca/

6. Living Building Challenge 3.0: http://living-future.org/

7 December 2014

1. LEED

LEED is a rating system that is recognized internationally as a standard of excellence for

green buildings in 150 countries. The US Green Building Council introduced the

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard in 2002. Currently

version 4 is being used. The US Green Building Council is the owner of the LEED brand

and it works because it recognizes that sustainability is at the center of all buildings

encompassing their design, construction and operation.

The Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC) entered into a licencing agreement with

the US Green Building Council (USGBC) for exclusive implementation of LEED Green

Building Rating Systems in Canada. Since 2004 the CaGBC has certified over 1,800

LEED buildings and registered over 5,000, the second highest number in the world.

LEED is available for the following rating applications;

Commercial Interiors (CI)

Core and Shell (CS)

Existing Building: Operations & Maintenance (EBOM)

Neighbourhoods (ND)

New construction (NC)

Home (H)

The LEED Rating System consists of an explicit set of environmental performance

criteria organized in the following performance categories;

1. Sustainable sites

2. Water efficiency

3. Energy and Atmosphere

4. Materials and Resources.

5. Indoor Environmental Quality

6. Innovation and Design process

Projects earn points toward certification by meeting or exceeding each Credit’s technical

requirements. All prerequisites must be achieved in order to qualify for Canada Green

Building Council certification. Points add up to a final score that relates to four possible

LEED certifications; CERTIFIED, SILVER, GOLD, or PLATIUM. Refer to the attached

Table 2 for the score corresponding to the certification. The point scoring can be found

on the CaGBC web site for each of the 6 modules listed above.

A study by Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory determined that the median cost of

retro-commissioning a building using LEED is approximately $0.27 per ft2. This results in

an average energy savings of 15%, and an average payback period under 1 year. A

listing of existing LEED certified buildings and scope of work summary can be found on

the Whole Building Design Guide web site.

8 December 2014

LEED EBOM was introduced in Canada in 2009 and is suitable when a building was

initially certified to LEED NC or CS and for medium to large facilities. To date 7 buildings

have been certified in British Columbia.

LEED certification involves the following steps;

1. Determine which rating system to use.

2. Register the project to show intent. The project is then referred to as a LEED

Certification Candidate and will be listed in the CaGBC’s public database. Owners

may opt out of the database if they choose.

3. Submit the certification application and pay a certification fee. Fees are related to

building type, square footage, and for members or non-members. A “Responsible”

professional is to fill out the required information per the reference guide. Typically

this is the LEED Accredited Professional who is coordinating the process.

4. Wait for the application review.

5. Receive the certification decision which can be accepted or appealed.

9 December 2014

LEED accredited professionals can have the following designations;

LEED Green Associate: 2 day course and pass a 2 hour exam.

LEED AP (Accredited Professional) have demonstrated experience with a Specialty

such as:

1. Design and Construction, (BD+C)

2. Operation & Maintenance (O&M)

3. Interior design & construction (ID+C)

4. Design & Construction of Green Homes (HOMES)

5. Design & Development of Neighborhoods (ND)

LEED AP Fellow: Distinguished LEED AP’s, 8 years LEED Certification, 10 years in the

green building field.

LEED Rater: in field verification. Minimum 3 years working in residential building

construction, completed a number of specific Green Home courses, have the LEED AP

with Homes, served as a principal project team member on a LEED for Homes project,

pass the Green Rater Eligibility Qualification exam.

2. BOMA BESt

Building Owners and Management Association (BOMA) members understood the need to

provide a standard to compare building performance. BOMA BESt was established in 2003

by the industry for the industry prior to LEED EB. It would have been prohibitively expensive

to bring existing building envelopes to LEED standard so the certification was a pragmatic

approach to creating more sustainable buildings. BOMA BESt gives the users an online

toolkit to improve energy conservation and environmental responsibility in a cost effective

method.

BOMA BESt was designed by Canada’s leading building owners, managers and operators

in conjunction with a wide range of independent external experts to provide a consistent

framework for assessing and improving the environmental performance and management of

buildings. Since the inception of the program it has seen a tremendous uptake by the

Canadian real estate industry so that by the end of 2013 3,562 buildings have been certified

nationally. Their members and tenants understood the benefits for all stakeholders and it

made good business sense.

In 2009 the Ontario and BC Chapters merged and rebranded the Go Green and Go Green

Plus programs to BOMA BESt (Building Environmental Standards). Their mission statement

is to “Transform buildings into environmentally responsible assets”. The program is licenced

to BOMA Canada under the name BOMA BESt. In January 2012 BOMA Version 2 was

released. Highlights of the program are;

Certification is good for 3 years. Then if not recertified it will be dropped from the

National List. This encourages continued reviews and improvements.

10 December 2014

Incorporates 14 Best Practice requirements for certification.

Online assessment surveys specific to various types of buildings.

Third party on-site verification.

Transparent scoring.

Updated energy and water benchmarking (accounts for increasing levels of

industry performance)

The four levels of the rating system are;

Level 1: Meet BOMA Best Practices

Level 2: Met the Best Practices and scores 70% to 79%.

Level 3: Met the Best Practices and scores 80% to 89%.

Level 4: Met the Best Practices and scores 90% to 100%.

Only Shaw Tower and Shangri-La tower are certified to level 4 in BC.

Certification can be for offices, shopping centres, open air retail plazas, light industrial buildings,

multi residential buildings and health care facilities. The process is set up for building

professionals to enter their data on-line. Verification is conducted by a third party to confirm

validity of the information. Recertification is required every 3 years and the public can search the

database of certified buildings.

BOMA BEST CERTIFICATION PROCESS

Key findings of a December 2014 study by Light House Sustainability Building Centre was that

BOMA BESt buildings that re-certified reduce energy and water consumption by 25-30% within

3 years, and reduced waste by 8%. Organizations with BOMA BESt certified buildings will soon

be recognized under the new Vancouver Building By-law (VBBL) as an exception from the

sustainability upgrades that would otherwise be mandatory. This will save building owners time

and money on renovations.

11 December 2014

The Green Globes green building rating is also administered by BOMA but was rebranded into

the BESt program. Table 1 shows the results of BOMA BESt program since 2008.

BOMA BESt - Canada # Certified

or Recertified

406 472 456 501 711

Total Buildings Certified

1,200

1,350

1,360

3,562

Water Use (m3/m2/yr)

1.13 1.01 0.98 0.97 0.65 0.68

Average EUI

(ekWh/ft2/yr)

32.8 31.5 31.9 30.8 30.8 27.1

NRCan EUI Average

36.7 28.4

YEAR

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Table 1 - Performance data from BOMA BESt annual reports

LEED EB:O&M is fundamentally different by setting minimum performance requirements in

6 areas which existing buildings may not be able to achieve. BOMA BESt sets realistic goals

and a practical approach to improving the building performance. The Industry has set a

target for energy unit intensity (EUI) of 20 ekWh/ft2/year (37.2 eKWh/m2/year) by 2015 which

would make Canada a leader in conservation efforts.

3. BREEAM

BREEAM is a set of international standards for best practice in sustainable building

design, construction and operation. It encourages designers, clients and others to think

holistically about low carbon and low impact design even before considering energy

efficiency. The BREEAM web site advertises it will add a 2% increase in cost to new

building construction with a 2 to 5 year payback period through reduced utility costs.

The first step is to decide on which “Scheme” or method to apply, which are;

Scheme Application

Communities Planning stage of communities

New Construction 2011 Design & construction of new buildings

Code for Sustainable Homes

Design and construction of domestic buildings

In-Use In-use assessment of an existing building

Refurbishment Refurbishment and Renovations

12 December 2014

BREEAM works on the following Principals:

1. Sustainable solutions. Energy, pollution, ecology, materials, waste,

water, transportation, and the life cycle of the building.

2. Provides a framework to balance business needs with long term sustainability.

3. Sound Science. Provides technical sciences through a broad range of industry and

scientific experts to develop its Schemes.

4. Supports change by rewarding for building above the standard building regulations.

5. Delivers value to the occupants. Meets the needs of the occupants in a cost effective

manner over the life of the building that works within the limits of the earth’s finite

resources.

The next step is to contact a licenced BREEAM Assessor or Auditor. In Canada there is

only one available in Toronto. They will explain the remaining steps to register for an

assessment. They are an impartial certifier for the project and review the information

provided by the project team.

Assessors take training courses specific to the Scheme they require. Once the courses

are completed and pass a test, the applicant will get registered with BREEAM.

4. ENERGY STAR PORTFOLIO MANAGER

EnerGuide is the Canadian equivalent to the popular Energy Star program in the US.

Since 2001 Canada has been an international partner in the US ENERGY STAR

program. Energy Star is a recognised energy labeling tool used throughout North

America. EnerGuide has options and tools for house construction which is not within the

scope of this report.

Portfolio Manager is an on-line interactive energy management tool of Energy Star for

tracking and assessing building energy and water consumption. It is used to do energy-

use analysis to compare the Energy Usage Index (EUI) to National averages. 12 to 36

months of energy cost data is required to analyse. Numerous comparisons, indicators

and performance metrics are available through preloaded and customizable reports

within the software. Property owners and managers can assess;

1. Existing Buildings

2. Commercial New Construction

3. Industrial Energy Management

4. Small Business

Portfolio Manager is a software tool to track energy, water and GHG emissions from any

building and provides a score between 1 and 100 to compare with similar building types.

An ENERGY STAR certification is awarded to those buildings that perform better than

13 December 2014

75% of all similar buildings within the Energy Star database. An architect or professional

engineer must verify that information contained on the application is correct. In 2013

more than 300,000 buildings had used Portfolio Manager to benchmark their buildings

with 20,407 achieving Energy Star Certification in 2012. (Spring 2013 Energy Star

Snapshot report)

Energy Star provides Guidelines for Energy Management which provides a step by step

approach to manage a buildings energy performance. Natural Resources Canada has a

searchable database of approved providers.

The 75 percentile is a moving target that trends higher as more buildings improve their

performance and are added to the database. Similarly, if buildings are not performing

well the threshold will be trending lower.

Energy Managers, Owners and Operators are able to track a single facility or a group of

buildings for site energy, source energy, energy intensity, utility costs, greenhouse gas

emissions, personalized performance targets, and many other indicators over many

years. Certification is after 12 months of post construction utility data is received and

verified by a professional engineer or Architect familiar with buildings and their systems.

14 December 2014

As an incentive ENERGY STAR recognizes;

1. ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Excellence in Energy Management

2. ENERGY STAR National Buildings Competition – Using Portfolio Manager track

energy performance to see who can achieve the greatest energy savings.

3. ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry – Industrial sites that pledge to reduce their

energy intensity by 10% with 5 years.

The 7 main steps in Energy Star Guidelines

5. PASSIVE HOUSE

Passive House (PH) is not restricted to house construction. It applies to any building that

meets the standards outlined below. There are 9 buildings in Canada that are certified

as PH as of 2013. More Passive Houses are currently under construction in Vancouver

and will be completed soon. According to Alexander Maurer, of Marken Design +

Consulting, a PH may soon get a LEED rating so the 2 systems can be compared.

The standards required for PH certification are;

PASSIVE HOUSE CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Criteria Description

Space Heating Demand

Not to exceed 15 KWh/m2/year or 10W/m2 peak demand of usable space.

Space Cooling Demand

Roughly matches the heating demand with an additional, climate-dependent allowance for dehumidification.

Primary Energy

Demand

Not to exceed 120 KWh annually for all domestic applications (heating, cooling, hot water and domestic electricity) per m2 of usable space.

Air Tightness Maximum of 0.6 air changes per hour at 50 Pascal (as verified with an on-site pressure test in both pressurised and depressurised states)

Thermal Comfort

Thermal comfort must be met for all areas year-round with not more than 10% of the hours in any given year over 25C.

15 December 2014

Projects are result orientated to leave the designer flexibility to innovate and match the

best materials and practices with the region. For this reason a certified PH designer

should be involved early in the project.

Achieving PH certification in a renovation is not always a realistic goal. For such

buildings the PH Institute has developed EnerPHit for certified energy retrofits with

Passive House Components. This requires either a maximum heating demand of 25

KWh/m2/year or the consistent use of PH components in accordance with the

requirements for PHI certification of components.

If a building is PH Certified and goes through a renovation it will continue to be certified

as long as the building envelope is not altered.

Cross-section through the wall of an existing PH in Surrey.

Left side is 2”x4” construction on the inside face to handle wiring and piping.

PH construction is being made easier by BC Passive House which is a company that

constructs the prefabricated “superinsulated” wall panels in Pemberton. The panels are

shipped throughout North America and will speed up the construction time of a PH

building.

The Passive House Institute has a searchable database of Certified Passive House

Designers for any country in the world. A certifier for PH must pass an exam issued by

the PH Institute through authorized examiners worldwide. Seminars and courses to

prepare for the exam are provided through the same examiners. Alternatively the

applicant will need to submit a report of documented projects. Their certification must be

16 December 2014

renewed every 5 years with at least 1 qualified approved Passive House construction

project.

6. LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE

The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is a program of the International Living Future

Institute (ILFI). It is a philosophy, advocacy tool and certification program that addresses

developments at all scales. It is not a net neutral program but creates a pathway and

vision for a sustainable regenerative living future. It is a continually evolving program,

promoting a holistic approach, receiving feedback from design teams from around the

world.

In Canada the International Living Future Institute partners with the CaGBC to advance

and support the Challenge. Through the Cascadia Green Building Council the institute

offers a group of programs in British Columbia such as Living Community Challenge for

neighbourhoods that would share services.

Projects can receive the following certification;

1. Living Building Certification

2. Petal Recognition

3. Net 0 Energy Building Certification

The process follows 3 steps;

1. Register the project. Project details are entered including Typology and

Transect.

2. Documentation & Operation. Technical assistance is provided by the Institute

which can provide clarification if required. Projects require 12 months of

performance data and pay certification fees.

3. Audit & Certification. Once all documentation is provided an independent

auditor performs review of the site and documentation.

The evaluation criteria includes; specified percentage of local products, financial

contribution to Carbon Exchange to offset total embodied CO2 impact, does not use red

list of materials which are harm full to the environment, low volatile organic compounds

(VOC ) in materials, promotes a healthy and happy interior environment, equitable

access for all regardless of age handicap or social status, elevate spirits, celebrate

culture & spirit appropriate to its function, integrate public art, provide education material

about the operation and performance of the project, motivate others to make change,

design human transportation, reduced waste during construction and operation and end

of life reuse or demolition.

The applicant is also to donate to renewable infrastructure charity of their choosing or an

ILFI charity, $0.005 for every $1.00 of project cost.

17 December 2014

The project also requires a Social Justice Action JUST endorsement. This is an

innovative transparency program by ILFI for organizations to reveal much about their

organizations including voluntary disclosure of how they treat employees, where they

make their financial and community investments.

Summary Matrix

COMPARRISON:

A comprehensive comparison of green building standards would require reviewing the details of

the scoring criteria for each standard. This is beyond the scope of this report. This report

provides a list of standards used in Canada and a general summary of each. There is some

overlap of the use of the standards listed so it is hoped to provide a general understanding of

what is available and when it is used.

Buildings built to a green building standard need to maintain their level of efficiency. Regular

recertification ensures this is being done.

18 December 2014

Implementing green initiatives on existing buildings requires continuous recommisioning as new

and improved products and innovations become economical to implement. In both cases a

process of regular review is required to as a minimum maintain the building in optimum

performance. The general steps required for energy “Labeling” commercial buildings in Canada

are;

Step 1 Compile the actual energy and water used based on 12 months (or more) of utility bills.

You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Step 2 Enter utility data in a building bench marking tool that will normalize the data for weather.

Step 3 Generate the energy use index (EUI) in eKWh/m2/year, to compare to other similar

building types.

Step 4 Conduct an analysis of the building operations related to illumination, ventilation, thermal

comfort and compliance to ASHRAE guidelines.

Step 5 Provide a building energy efficiency recommendation report and plan for implementation

of the recommendations. Continuous energy data analysis and benchmarking will provide actual

energy savings from the upgrades completed. Go to Step 1 and repeat the process.

19 December 2014

Table 2 - COMPARISON OF GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS

Green Building Rating System

LEED BOMA BESt ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager PASSIVE HOUSE CERTIFICATION Living Building Challenge 3.0 BREEAM

Label Score Label Score Label Score Label Score Label Score Label Score

Certified 40-49 points Level 1 Meets 14 Best Practices ENERGY STAR Certification >75

Passive House Certification Yes/No Living Certification BREEAM Certification Yes/No

Silver 50-59 points Level 2 70-79% (1 to 100) Petal Certification

Gold 60-79 points Level 3 80-89% Net Zero Energy Certification

Platinum 80+ points Level 4 90%+

(Max. 110 points)

Best Used For: Buildings/Site Multi tenant buildings Bench Marking/Labeling All Buildings Building/Site Building/Site

Size of Building: Medium to Large Small to Medium No limits No limits No limits No limits

Start Date: 2003 2003 Rebranded in 2005 1992 USA 2010 2006 1990

Total Certified in Canada: 1800+ (2014) 3,562 (2014) 20,407 (2012) 9 (2014) 192 (not all are certified) Unknown 250,000+ Worldwide

Recertification: 5 Years 3 Years nil Unknown Subject to audit at any time

Track Metrics: Yes Yes Yes 12 months of measured data

Targets:

37.2 eKWh/m2/year in 2015 >75% of similar type blgs 120 kWh/m

2/year (Max.)

0.6 Air changes per hour (Max)

(Refer to page 14 for complete list) Member fee for 2,000,000 ft

2

office: $13,400 2012 $2,800 2012

20 December 2014

SUMMARY:

This report summarizes 6 green building rating standards used in Canada for commercial

buildings. They all have their application to improving building performance and sustainability for

the owner’s preference.

Reducing the demand on energy sources improves the capacity for those resources within

existing utility transmission capacity. Such as reducing water consumption will reduce the need

for municipalities to increase water supply pipeline capacity and on the downstream side

sewage trunk lines and sewage treatment plant capacity. This would reduce a significant

expenditure for municipalities to tax their citizens.

Locally residents in parts of the Township of Langley and the Gulf Islands who are not serviced

with municipal water have cisterns or wells, and have to reduce their water consumption during

the dry summer months when ground water levels go lower. Public demand creates a need to

reduce and conserve the resource.

The minimum standard any building is to be constructed is to the BC Building Code. This code

is being revised to include proven green building innovations. The trend is that more revisions

will be occurring in the future “greening” the code. The new Vancouver Building code requires a

reduction in energy use and will be effective January 1, 2015. These changes require an

informed and educated workforce to prepare for the changes occurring in the industry.

The green standards in this report are being revised over time which will decrease the impact on

the environment in and around buildings, further reducing operating costs. The diagram below

graphically shows the incremental move in standards toward a Net 0 building impact.

Impact of LEED on BC Building Code

21 December 2014

The introduction of green building standards is the start of a trend to change the mindset the

industry looks at building use, optimizing the built environment for health, and the options

available throughout the life cycle of a building. Building green makes business sense, ensuring

the building is continually optimized to maintain its value.

The trend in green buildings will have a significant impact on the built environment. Building life

cycle costs will be reduced and the utility services (electricity, gas, water, sewer, storm) they

require will be reduced, which will provide significant savings for all.

Center for Interactive Research on Sustainability, (CIRS) UBC – LEED Platinum

Birk Madsen, A.Sc.T

December 8, 2014