News: WBJ summarizes LEED v3

The Washington Business Journal provides a quick summary of changes in the new LEED 3.0 standard.

The standard implements and expands upon a few items I’ve written about before, specifically “sustainable sites” as part of a post, “Where does your life take place?” and “Needs more data”.

From an operational perspective energy tracking and reporting requirement (LEED requires reporting to the USGBC for 3-5 years) is the most important improvement from prior versions. Tracking and analyzing energy usage, comparing to baseline, and looking for additional efficiencies should be the most lasting legacy of this LEED version. While the reporting requirements have invited animated discussions, using energy analysis to improve LEED and all building science provides the path toward cost savings and greater loan proceeds (two items close to any developer’s heart).

I’ll have a short post on additional operational implications shortly.