Are LEED-Certified Buildings Energy-Efficient in Practice?

Abstract

Depletion of natural resources and climate change are undoubtedly the biggest challenges that humankind faces today. Here, buildings have a crucial role since they consume the majority, i.e., 30% to 40% of the total energy resources. Green building certification is one of the solutions to limit the energy use in buildings. In addition, it is seen to indicate a consideration for sustainability aspects in construction. LEED is the most widely used certificate worldwide. However, recently some critics have raised doubts about LEED and whether it actually implies sustainability. Most of the criticism has been targeted to the energy aspects of LEED. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on the usefulness of LEED: is it really beneficial for the environment, and is it worth of the money and time invested on the certification process? In this study a critical analysis of the literature to find an answer to this question is presented. Altogether 44 peer reviewed articles dealing with the abovementioned issue were selected out of 164 search result. Based on the studied material, the different aspects of LEED from the viewpoint of energy-efficiency are discussed. From the 44 reviewed articles, ten articles state that LEED certificate indicates energy efficiency while eight papers end up with an opposite conclusion. The rest of the papers do not take any stand on this matter. The study showed that energy efficiency of LEED-certified buildings is questionable especially at lower levels, i.e., certified. Therefore, it is recommended to modify the Energy and Atmosphere category of LEED in order to improve the actual energy performance of buildings.

A BIM-LCA Approach for Estimating the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Large-Scale Public Buildings: A Case Study

“…Although different standards have different emphases, they all revolve around the principle of energy saving and emissions reduction [12,13]. However, some buildings selected as green buildings are far from the expected effect [14]. For example, the Bank of American Building, the first office building achieving the LEED Platinum certification in America, consumes a surprising level of energy.…”

Comparative Analysis of Energy Consumption between Green Building Certified and Non-Certified Buildings in Korea

“…A recent literature analysis analyzes and summarizes studies on this subject. Amiri et al [2]'s search located 164 research papers that covered energy efficiency topics in LEED-certified buildings. Of these, Forty-four peer-reviewed papers were selected and analyzed.…”

“…The number of green building certified buildings in Korea, which started in January 2002, has been increasing rapidly year by year [1]. Although the interest in and importance of green building certification have increased, it has been difficult to determine how much less energy consumption is actually used in buildings after obtaining certification [2].…”

Economic and Technical Considerations in Pursuing Green Building Certification: A Case Study from Iran

“…Another important issue is that the majority of the existing LEED-certified buildings are located in the US and Canada [49]. Several studies have been conducted in China, as a developing country, where the number of LEED-certified buildings is increasing.…”

“…In this case, the efficiency of the building in energy and water consumption besides environmentally-friendly material usage is doubtful. A literature review paper by Amiri et al [49] on the energy-efficiency of LEED-certified buildings revealed that the energy efficiency of LEED-certified buildings, especially at the lower (Certified) level, is questionable.…”