Tim Griffin, PE, LEED AP, IDEA USGBC Liaison

Editor’s Note: “LEED® + District Energy” is a quarterly column providing information about the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system and how it applies to buildings served by district energy systems.

IDEA’s 23rd Annual Campus Energy Conference in now in the books, and what a conference it was. Campus leaders from around the country turned out to share ideas, learn about best practices and capture new strategies to use on their campuses. With the economy in a prolonged downturn, I would have bet that attendance would be light and questions about the LEED program would be low on people’s radar screens. With tighter capital budgets, why would campuses still be investing additional funds to pursue LEED certifications for their new and existing facilities? Good thing I did not put any money on either of those bets because I was wrong on both counts!

For one, attendance was strong. Many campus energy leaders came to find out ways to better respond to shrinking utility budgets. I noticed much interest in presentations related to operational efficiencies and a renewed focus on finding ways to position campus energy systems for the future.

On the second count, LEED was much higher on everyone’s agenda than any previous campus energy conference. In fact, the topic came up during the opening plenary panel discussion when an attendee posed a question about LEED to the panel. This single question opened the floodgates of discussion. Side discussions continued throughout the conference, ending with a well-attended, hour-long combined session devoted to the subject and continuing ever since via email.

Whether or not you were able to join us in Reno, you may be interested in just a few of the questions and answers that came up frequently during discussions.

Q: New and Improved Version 2.0:
Where is it?

A: Throughout 2009, IDEA worked closely with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to develop a new guidance document to address the specifics of applying the LEED guidelines to buildings that were connected to district energy. While there is an existing guidance document available and in force today, this guidance is difficult to follow and does not address many of the system options available to district energy operators. In addition, it often puts district energy systems on an uneven and unfair playing field when compared to building standalone systems.

IDEA’s efforts last year ended in a much improved district energy guidance document that puts district energy on a level playing field. In fact, last quarter’s column (first quarter 2010, p. 62) highlights many of the improvements the new guidance document will have over the old. Unfortunately the document still has not been released. The original release date was anticipated to be October 2009, which would have paralleled the release of LEED 2009, the latest new and existing building rating system. Instead, the new district energy guidance document is still ‘tied up in committee,’ in this case awaiting final approval from USGBC’s Energy and Atmosphere Technical Advisory Committee. So designers are still required to use the existing guidance document with all its inherent flaws until the new and improved guidance document is released to the public.

Q: Aren’t people only doing LEED for ‘feel-good’ reasons? A: Ah, if I had a $5 chip for each time I heard this during the week, I could have spent a fair amount of time at the blackjack tables. Why are people pursuing LEED certification for their buildings? Surely it makes sense if you can charge a premium lease rate on your downtown office facility, or even if you are a Fortune 500 company that needs to show it is a good corporate citizen. However, what does it do for a campus? Well, the answer may surprise you, but it would not surprise your campus admission departments.