A recent analysis of 195 office and retail buildings certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC’s) LEED rating system shows the buildings performing in the top 11th percentile in the United States in terms of energy usage, with an average ENERGY STAR score of 89 out of 100 possible points.
Under LEED 2009, building owners are required to submit energy- and water-use data to aid understanding of and improve building performance. For two years, the USGBC has been tracking this data, finding that LEED projects demonstrate source energy-use intensity that is, on average, 47-percent lower than the national average (as reported through EPA Portfolio Manager).
The buildings analyzed range in size from 2,000 to 3 million sq ft, with the average being 254,000 sq ft. The majority were certified under the LEED for Existing Buildings rating system.
“The ENERGY STAR data we’ve released gives us an indication as to where the numbers are trending,” Scot Horst, senior vice president, LEED, USGBC, said. “In the coming months, we will be releasing additional LEED energy information.”