Do LEED-certified buildings save energy? Not really…

Scofield, John

doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2009.08.006

Cited by 287 publications

(153 citation statements)

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“…This discrepancy is large in conventional buildings, but, perhaps more importantly, in "green" buildings, where there are likely to be the best opportunities for building efficiency learnings. Several studies have documented that LEED and other green buildings are only about as efficient as conventional buildings (Scofield, 2002(Scofield, , 2009Nilsson & Elmroth, 2005;Kunz, Maile, & Bazjanac, 2009;Maile, 2010). Much of the discrepancy may be due to a failure in understanding how buildings are being used.…”

Section: Research and Development Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is disaggregation the holy grail of energy efficiency? The case of electricity

Gupta²,

et al. 2013

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This paper aims to address two timely energy problems. First, significant low-cost energy reductions can be made in the residential and commercial sectors, but these savings have not been achievable to date. Second, billions of dollars are being spent to install smart meters, yet the energy saving and financial benefits of this infrastructure -without careful consideration of the human element -will not reach its full potential. We believe that we can address these problems by strategically marrying them, using disaggregation. Disaggregation refers to a set of statistical approaches for extracting end-use and/or appliance level data from an aggregate, or wholebuilding, energy signal. In this paper, we explain how appliance level data affords numerous benefits, and why using the algorithms in conjunction with smart meters is the most cost-effective and scalable solution for getting this data. We review disaggregation algorithms and their requirements, and evaluate the extent to which smart meters can meet those requirements. Research, technology, and policy recommendations are also outlined.

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Section: Research and Development Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is disaggregation the holy grail of energy efficiency? The case of electricity

Gupta²,

et al. 2013

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“…Internationally it is suggested that the 'market leaders' have been adopted and adapted for their 'brand' value (Cole & Valdebenito, 2013) and interpretive flexibility (Goulden et al, 2015) and to aid market transformation (Todd, Pyke, & Tufts, 2013). However, the efficacy of certification in producing energy-efficient buildings has been questioned (Newsham et al, 2009;Scofield, 2009Scofield, , 2013. Taken together this body of work already suggests that 'market standards' such as these fail to deliver meaningful energy efficiency due to tensions with their other more market-facing roles, offering some qualified support for the findings presented here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy-related standards and UK speculative office development

Cass

2017

Building Research & Information

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Non-domestic buildings have great potential for energy-related emission reductions in response to climate change. However, high-specification office buildings in the UK demonstrate that regulation, assessment and certification ('standards') have not incentivized the development of lower-energy office buildings as expected. Making use of the concepts of 'qualculation' and 'calculative agency', qualitative case studies of 10 speculatively developed office buildings in London, UK, provide new insight into why this is the case. Interview data (n = 57) are used to illustrate how 'market standards' substitute for user needs, and ratchet up the provision of building services to maximize marketability competitively. The examples of energy modelling and the market's (mis)use of British Council for Offices guidelines are used to explain how such standards perversely bolster energy-demanding levels of specification and building services, and militate against lowerenergy design, in the sector researched. The potentials for alternative, performance-based standards and new industry norms of quality are discussed. It is concluded that at least the London speculative office market by its very constitution and operation, including the reliance on standards, continues to create increasingly energy-demanding buildings.

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“…However, this study has been heavily criticized for its methodology and conclusions. Critics argued that the study's data collection methods were likely to result in biased sampling and that the study's analysis approach resulted in misunderstanding regarding sources of energy consumption and carbon emissions [23,24]. The study was also criticized for drawing conclusions based on simple comparison of the median EUI of LEED buildings to the mean EUI of all U.S. commercial buildings without any statistical tests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An insight into actual energy use and its drivers in high-performance buildings

2014

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Using portfolio analysis and individual detailed case studies, we studied the energy performance and drivers of energy use in 51 high-performance office buildings in the U.S., Europe, China, and other parts of Asia. Portfolio analyses revealed that actual site energy use intensity (EUI) of the study buildings varied by a factor of as much indicates that a building is energy efficient and suggesting that improvement in the design and operation of HPBs is needed to realize their energy-saving potential. We studied the influence of climate, building size, and building technologies on building energy performance and found that although all are important, none are decisive factors in building energy use. EUIs were widely scattered in all climate zones. There was a trend toward low energy use in small buildings, but the correlation was not absolute; some small HPBs exhibited high energy use, and some large HPBs exhibited low energy use. We were unable to identify a set of efficient technologies that correlated directly to low EUIs. In two case studies, we investigated the influence of occupant behavior as well as operation and maintenance on energy performance and found that both play significant roles in realizing energy savings. We conclude that no single factor determines the actual energy performance of HPBs, and adding multiple efficient technologies does not necessarily improve building energy performance; therefore, an integrated design approach that takes account of climate, technology, occupant behavior, and operations and maintenance practices should be implemented to maximize energy savings in HPBs. These findings are intended to help architects, engineers, operators, and policy makers improve the design and operation of HPBs.

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Do LEED-certified buildings save energy? Not really…

Cited by 287 publications

References 1 publication

Is disaggregation the holy grail of energy efficiency? The case of electricity

Is disaggregation the holy grail of energy efficiency? The case of electricity

Energy-related standards and UK speculative office development

An insight into actual energy use and its drivers in high-performance buildings

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