The Leader - January/February 2009 - (Page 20)

Assessin g g r e e n B u i l din g Per for m A n ce: u .s. gove rnme nt’ s ‘ lAndlo rd’ e v AluAte s 12 Bui ldi ng s U.S. regional climates, a mix of uses (courthouses and offices), and a mix of build-tosuit leases and federally owned buildings. Land ports of entry were excluded because, as a building type, they are too different to allow meaningful comparisons. Eight of the buildings were designed to meet or exceed basic LEED certification. The other four were designed to meet the requirements of other programs, including ENERGY STAR and the California Title 24 energy standard. The research team used a consistent evaluation process for every building studied:  Obtaining and reviewing one year of operating data  Surveying building occupants  Interviewing the building manager  Conducting an expert walkthrough To make the study useful to a larger audience, the team compared each performance measure with the national average for U.S. commercial buildings. The latest available benchmark data comes from widely accepted industry and government standards. 50 percent below baseline; and its CO2 emissions are 34 percent under baseline, putting it in the top half of studied buildings. Its emissions from occupant commutes, 1.7 metric tons per person, put it in the top third. The Omaha Department of Homeland Security (DHS) building also performed well across all categories. Its ENERGY STAR rating (85) is also in the top third; water costs are 66 percent below the baseline, achieved using rainwater harvesting and low-flow and auto-flow lavatory fixtures to offset its greater public use. DHS performance, although with a lesser achievement in terms of water use intensity. One LEED certified building did not pursue energy efficiency during design. As a result, it achieved no LEED energy optimization credits, and had the lowest ENERGY STAR rating in the study. finding 2: gsA’s green Buildings cost less to operate Why do operations and maintenance (O&M) costs matter? Considered in aggregate, they approximate the consumption side of overall sustainable performance. As a group, the 12 buildings studied performed only slightly better than the national average for U.S. commercial buildings: 7 percent below that baseline. However, one-third of the group did much better, at 41 percent below. The two LEED Gold buildings were among the best performers from an O&M cost perspective. Lower utility and janitorial costs and savings from recycling resulted in top scores for the Curtis NPS building and the Omaha DHS building. The use of green cleaning practices enhanced their performance. On average, the bottom quartile of the buildings studied had considerably higher costs than the industry baseline: 45 percent above the national average for U.S. commercial buildings. These buildings had unusually high maintenance costs and, in one case, an operating emergency. The best practice lesson here is that O&M costs are lowest when sustainability is integral to every aspect of a building, including cleaning and recycling. Building and systems efficiencies alone aren’t enough. Upfront investments in sustainable measures need to be matched by sustainable O&M practices. finding 1: fully integrated design delivers Higher Performance For a building to achieve LEED Gold certification, credits must be obtained in all five rating areas, requiring a completely integrated approach to building design. The two LEED Gold buildings in this study clearly show that a comprehensive approach yields broad, holistic performance benefits. While neither building led in every category, these two buildings were the only ones studied that achieved consistently high levels of performance on all measures. The Curtis National Park Service (NPS) building in Omaha performed well in all categories. Its ENERGY STAR rating (86) is in the top third for the group; its water costs are 91 percent below the BOMA/ IFMA baseline; its domestic water use is This study breaks new ground by comparing GSA’s sustainably designed buildings against U.S. commercial buildings, using the latest performance data. —David Winstead, Commissioner, Public Buildings Service has 65 regular occupants and 360 occupant visitors while NPS has 125 regular occupants and 134 occupant visitors. DHS’s domestic water use is 58 percent below baseline. Across all buildings studied, building performance tracks design intent. Buildings designed with a strong energy focus – compliance with California’s demanding Title 24 energy code or ENERGY STAR – had outstanding energy finding 3: gsA’s green Buildings Have satisfied occupants This study provides important new evidence that occupant satisfaction is 2 0 0 9 tH e le Ade r 20 JAnuAry / feBruAry

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - January/February 2009

The Leader - January/February 2009 Contents Leadership Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Mergers and Aquisitions Assessing Green Building Performance Measuring Space You Actually Use Global Trends in Sustainable Real Estate Whirlpool’s Lee Utke Northmarq’s Kevin Farrell Plastics: Hoping for Resiliency in Resins Regional Profile: Heartland Holding Strong Industry Profile: Ascendas Brings New Age Business Space to Asia-Pac Industry Tracker From the Applied Research Center Discovery Forum Findings Capital Corner Career Development Young Leader Economic Development in the News Learning Spotlight Connect With CoreNet Global Index of Advertisers A Look Ahead In our Next Issue Calendar of Seminars

The Leader - January/February 2009

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