USGBC launches LEED O+M

The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED O+M process delivers green building guidelines for existing facilities.

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The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the LEED Volume Program for Operations + Maintenance is now available for existing green building projects. The track, which focuses on operations and maintenance needs, debuted at the 2011 BOMA International Conference held in Washington, D.C.

“With the launch of the Operations & Maintenance track, LEED’s largest users are now able to make a sizable impact in greening their existing building portfolio as well as achieving green design and construction of their new builds,” said Scot Horst, Senior Vice President, USGBC. “Because existing buildings make up the vast majority of the U.S. building stock and the existing building market is nearly 100 times larger than the new construction market, tools like this are essential to reducing energy consumption from this sector.”

The LEED Volume Program apparently streamlines the certification process for high-volume property owners and managers of existing buildings and new construction projects. Utilizing a prototype-based approach, the program enables large-scale builders, owners, and managers to achieve consistency in green building improvements, allowing them to earn LEED certification faster and at a lower cost than would be possible with individual building reviews.

The Operations + Maintenance track was shaped by 11 commercial real estate firms, national retailers, hospitality providers, colleges and universities, local and state governments and federal agencies, including Cushman + Wakefield, Bentall Kennedy, City of San Jose, Kohl’s Department Stores, Stop + Shop, Bank of America, University of Florida, American University, University of California Santa Barbara, Wells Fargoand InterContinental Hotels Group.

“The LEED Volume Program benefitted both our corporate tenant and investor clients by providing a streamlined and cost-effective approach to certification,” said John Santora, Client Solutions, Cushman + Wakefield, a Volume Pilot participant. “It also allowed us to educate and empower our management professionals so that they are now able to implement sustainable operations and practices at our properties.” Currently, 18 Cushman + Wakefield properties are certified, representing 8 million square feet of commercial real estate.

“Achieving one of the nation’s first groups of certifications using the LEED Volume Program for Operations + Maintenance across such a diverse portfolio of assets demonstrates our strong belief in the importance, long-term value and opportunities presented by improving the sustainability of existing buildings, in addition to new construction,” said Christian Gunter, Vice President, Bentall Kennedy, which has certified 45 buildings representing over 8 million square feet of commercial space through the LEED Volume Program.

More than 625 building projects have certified through the LEED Volume Program, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, The PNC Financial Services Group, Best Buy, Marriott, Citigroup and Starbucks Coffee Company. USGBC launched the program for the design and construction of new building projects at its Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in November 2010.

- Edited by Chris Vavra, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, www.csemag.com