I was fortunate to attend the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Boston for two days last week. For those of you unfamiliar with the event, it is the annual conference and trade show of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the creator of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification program. When Greenbuild was first held in 2002, 4,000 people attended. Last year in Chicago, attendance was approximately 22,000. On the first day alone of this year’s event, more than 26,000 people packed the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. That was good news for Boston area hotels, as they were booked solid. Next year’s event will be held in Phoenix from November 11 to 13.
The success of Greenbuild is strong proof that interest in green building is exploding. In our industry, there are now at least 400 hotel projects in the pipeline that have LEED certification as a goal. According to Lodging Econometrics, at the end of the third quarter of this year, there were 5,652 hotel projects in the U.S. pipeline. As a percentage, 400 would be 7 percent. Keep in mind that just a year ago that percentage would have been barely more than zero. An increasing number of LEED projects is good news for our industry and even better news for the environment, as LEED buildings consume 26 percent less energy and generate 33 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than average commercial buildings.
Walking around the trade show floor, it was almost overwhelming trying to take in all of the different green products and technologies that are available to help a new construction or renovation project earn LEED points. Almost every building material you can think of now has a greener alternative, meaning that it either includes recycled content, is recyclable, saves energy or water, is sustainably produced, or does not negatively impact indoor air quality in any way.
Highlights of LEED 2009
The buzz coming out of Greenbuild this year mostly concerned the different ways LEED will change in 2009. The following is a list of some of those changes:
• The various LEED rating systems—LEED for New Construction, LEED for Commercial Interiors, and others—have been aligned under one system called LEED 2009. The nonprofit USGBC has also created a “bookshelf” of credits that apply to all of its diverse LEED rating standards.
• Building performance, such as energy efficiency, will be weighted more in LEED 2009. Improvements that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and burn fewer fossil fuels will account for more LEED points. Reducing climate change is now the No. 1 priority. Twenty-five percent of the credits are now geared toward reducing projects’ carbon footprints, up from about 17 percent. The new 110-point LEED scorecard for new and remodeled buildings—100 points plus a possible 10 bonus points—nearly doubles the optional credits for energy performance.
• The new criteria place greater emphasis on the environmental impact of a building’s entire life cycle.
• The different needs of buildings in different regions of the country will be addressed—emphasizing heating in the Northeast and water use in the Southeast, for example.
• Beginning in early 2009, USGBC will move administration of the LEED certification process to the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), a nonprofit organization established in 2007 with the support of USGBC. Working together with the selected certification bodies, GBCI will deliver a substantially improved, ISO compliant certification process that will be able to grow with the green building movement.
• Developers that systematically test the energy performance, or “commission,” of their buildings will be able to earn two credits instead of one.
• Under LEED 2009, building redevelopers may earn three credits for maintaining 95 percent of the structure’s walls, floors and roof. They may earn additional credits for reusing concrete, metal and other materials on-site or recycling them off-site.
• Water conservation will be weighted more, with 10 possible points compared to the previous five. LEED 2009 will require 30 percent indoor water use reduction instead of the previous 20 percent.
Given that LEED is a consensus-based rating system, it will continue to evolve and improve. Keep reading Green Lodging News for the latest LEED developments.
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