WASHINGTON — The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that it has stepped up its commitment to improved building performance with the launch of the Building Performance Initiative, designed to put in place a comprehensive data collection effort from all buildings that have achieved LEED certification; implement an appropriate analysis methodology of that data; and provide feedback to building owners so they have better information with which to address any performance gaps that stem from predicted building performance vs. actual performance.

This initiative complements the announcement earlier this year that will require ongoing performance data from buildings as part of their certification under the latest version of LEED.

“This initiative is about gathering knowledge about building performance in a way no one has ever done before,” said Scot Horst, USGBC’s LEED senior vice president. “The information that we collect from our certified projects is a workable, holistic approach for achieving better performing buildings.”

Horst noted that a building’s day-to-day operation has a dramatic impact on its performance. Without better information, an owner or facility manager won’t know where the gaps are and be able to act on them.

Issues include: Do people forget to turn out the lights when they leave a room? Leave the water running in the sink? Do the facility managers have protocols for checking automatic controls? Do they know when those controls are malfunctioning?

“Plenty of people are content to simply point to these longstanding issues without offering a constructive way to address them. We’re going to take them on and engage practitioners and thought leaders alike in establishing a national roadmap to optimize building performance,” said Horst.

That engagement mechanism is four Building Performance Initiative summits to be held across the U.S. in September and October. Participants will have a chance to preview USGBC’s data collection agenda and proposed analysis methodology and provide feedback.

“The local summits are a way to gather people’s input for our vision and also for them to share their performance stories, successes, and challenges,” said Horst.

The inputs from these meetings will be reported on at the First Annual Building Performance Summit at Greenbuild, Nov. 11-13, 2009 in Phoenix.

“Establishing the importance of the connection between the landlord and tenant; the designer and operator; and the owner and the occupant will be one outcome of this initiative,” said Horst. “Everyone has a contribution to make to how the building ultimately performs. With the right kind of information, it will be much easier to see what areas are really driving performance and what areas need to be addressed. The Building Performance Initiative is a great step in that direction.”

For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.

Publication date: 09/07/2009