SUSTAINABILITY AND RATING SYSTEMS

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Sustainability and Rating Systems

Accredited Texas Energy Manager (ATEM) Training Curriculum

SUSTAINABILITY AND RATING SYSTEMS

Sustainability

As an energy manager you are tasked with ensuring the construction, operation and maintenance of a building is performed in a manner that minimizes the impacts to the environment. Recently the terms “Green” and “Sustainability” are often referenced when talking about energy management. However, these terms have other meanings that go beyond energy efficiency. The purpose of this section is to help the energy manager understand the concepts represented by the terms “Green and Sustainability”.

What does “Green” mean? Recently, the word “Green” has become one of those words used to describe almost anything that is good for the environment. The word “Green” is typically used to symbolize nature (grass, trees, leaves), therefore it is used to represent things that are natural, good for the environment, and healthy. While “Green” is a fitting symbol, it does not completely encompass the full meaning of sustainability, which is maintaining ecological balance (source: ASHRAE).

In respect to the design and operations of a facility the term “Sustainability” should encompass the following objectives:

 Minimize resource consumption (e.g., fossil fuel, land, water, raw materials)

 Minimize the use of non-renewable energy sources

 Minimize emissions that negatively impact the indoor air quality and the earth’s atmosphere

 Minimize discharge of solid waste (e.g., stormwater runoff, construction waste, recycling)

 Minimize negative impacts to the site ecosystem

 Maximize indoor environment quality (e.g., air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics, lighting)

Energy STAR Portfolio Manager

ENERGY STAR is a very useful resource for Energy Managers. ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). For example, ENERGY STAR provides a simple-to-use rating system that qualifies consumer products (e.g., appliances, office equipment, building materials) based on certain energy performance criteria. ENERGY STAR provides a tool called Portfolio Manager which rates the energy performance of buildings. Portfolio Manager is a free online resource that Energy Managers can use to benchmark and track the energy performance of their facilities. Portfolio Manager helps organizations set investment priorities, identify under-performing buildings, verify efficiency improvements, and receive EPA recognition for superior energy performance.

Portfolio Manager is also an energy performance benchmarking tool. Portfolio Manager rates a building’s energy performance on a scale of 1–100 relative to similar buildings nationwide. The rating system is based on a statistically representative model utilizing a national survey conducted by the

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Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. This national survey, known as the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), is conducted every four years, and gathers data on building characteristics and energy use from thousands of buildings across the United States. A rating of 50 indicates that the building, from an energy consumption standpoint, performs better than 50% of all similar buildings nationwide, while a rating of 75 indicates that the building performs better than 75% of all similar buildings nationwide. Portfolio Manager is used to generate a Statement of Energy Performance (SEP) for each building, summarizing key energy information such as site and source energy intensity, greenhouse gas emission, energy reduction targets and energy cost. The Statement of Energy Performance can help in applying for an ENERGY STAR Building label or satisfying LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) requirements. For example, one of the requirements to receive an ENERGY STAR Building Label is to achieve a minimum rating of 75. Furthermore, an ENERGY STAR minimum rating of 69 is required to meet LEED-EB requirements. The following pages provide a quick start guide for Energy Star Portfolio Manager. Note, readers are encouraged to visit the website in order to stay current.

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Green Building Rating Systems -– LEED

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a third party green building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The LEED system is available for all building types. The following diagram lists the different types of rating systems.

*Rating system under development or in pilot.

LEED is a point based system where building projects earn LEED points for satisfying specific green building criteria. Within each of the five LEED credit categories (listed below), projects must satisfy particular prerequisites and earn points. The number of points the project earns determines the level of LEED Certification the project receives. LEED certification is available in four progressive levels according to the scale below. The 6 pages following explain some of the frequently asked questions for LEED for Existing Buildings and LEED for Schools

New Construction or Major Renovations

•LEED for New Construction •LEED for Core & Shell •LEED for Schools •LEED for Healthcare* •LEED for Retail*

Interior Design & Construction

•LEED for Comercial Interiors •LEED for Retail Interiors

Existing Buildings Operations & Maintenance

•LEED for Existing Buildings •LEED for Existing Schools*

Major Categories • Sustainable Sites (SS)

• Water Efficiency (WE) • Energy and Atmosphere (EA), • Materials and Resources (MR) • Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) • Innovation in Design (ID)

Certifcation Levels • Certified 40–49 points

• Silver 50–59 points • Gold 60–79 points

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Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) is a green building rating system especially designed for K-12 Schools. It is non-profit organization with over 225 member organizations which includes government agencies, utility companies, school districts, non-profit organizations and private companies.

In order to facilitate this process, the CHPS organization has created criteria for different areas. The Texas criteria (TX-CHPS) contains information for districts in Texas to build schools that are sustainable as well as Healthy, Comfortable and environmentally responsible learning spaces. In 2009 the Texas CHPS released the 2009 Edition Criteria for New Construction and Major Modernizations. The Texas Criteria provides region specific Green Building criteria for K-12 schools. Further information regarding TX-CHPS can be found by following the web link below.

The following 12 pages are the CHPS Program User Guide, showing the benefits, requirements, rules, fees and approved credits list for the program.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Energy STAR Portfolio Manager

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_portfoliomanager USGBC LEED

http://www.usgbc.org/

USGBC Green School Buildings http://www.usgbc.org/ TX- CHPS

http://www.chps.net/dev/Drupal/node/38

The above links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only, although we make every effort to ensure these links are accurate, up to date and relevant.

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CHPS - (http://www.chps.net/dev/Drupal/node/288)

Best Practices Manual

CHPS has developed a best practices manual to help schools, districts and practitioners to achieve high performance design, construction and operation. The following titles are available:

Volume I: Planning for High Performance Schools

For school and district officials and practitioners in the initial phases of a project.

Volume II: Design for High Performance Schools

A reference guide for design and construction professionals.

Criteria for High Performance Schools (formerly Volume III)

State and region-specific benchmarking systems that help schools, districts and design teams to prioritize and achieve green, healthy school buildings.

Volume IV: Maintenance and Operations of High Performance Schools

For school operators to operate their schools as their designers intended and provide optimal health, efficiency, and sustainability.

Volume V: Commissioning of High Performance Schools

A guide to the process of commissioning school equipment.

Volume VI: High Performance Relocatable Classrooms

A guide for relocatable manufacturers, relocatable purchasers and architects on specifying, building and acquiring high performance relocatable classrooms.

Accessing the CHPS Best Practices Manual

All CHPS resources are available for free download. Printable versions of the best practices manual are available for CHPS members. You can also order a hard copy of the Best Practices Manual by filling out and submitting this order form.