Skip to main content

An analysis of variation in the energy-related environmental impacts of leed certified buildings

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wedding, GC; Crawford-Brown, D
Published in: Journal of Green Building
January 1, 2007

The US Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED guidelines have become the dominant third-party certification program for "green" buildings in the US. Given that buildings use 37% of all energy and 68% of all electricity while contributing substantially to air emission, waste generation, and water consumption issues in the US, one of LEED's purposes is to address the environmental impacts of energy use in buildings. This research analyzes (1) how well the LEED guidelines measure these impacts and (2) which parameters create the most variation among these impacts. Environmental impacts here refer to emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and particulate matter (PM10); solid waste; nuclear waste; and water consumption. Using data from the US Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the US EPA Energy Star program, and the USGBC, among others, models using Monte Carlo analysis were created to simulate the range of impacts of LEED-certified buildings. Various metrics and statistics were calculated to highlight the significance of variation in these impacts. Future research needs and implications of the results for LEED version 3.0 are also discussed.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of Green Building

DOI

EISSN

1943-4618

ISSN

1552-6100

Publication Date

January 1, 2007

Volume

2

Issue

4

Start / End Page

151 / 170

Related Subject Headings

  • 3302 Building
  • 3301 Architecture
  • 1202 Building
  • 1201 Architecture
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Wedding, G. C., & Crawford-Brown, D. (2007). An analysis of variation in the energy-related environmental impacts of leed certified buildings. Journal of Green Building, 2(4), 151–170. https://doi.org/10.3992/jgb.2.4.151
Wedding, G. C., and D. Crawford-Brown. “An analysis of variation in the energy-related environmental impacts of leed certified buildings.” Journal of Green Building 2, no. 4 (January 1, 2007): 151–70. https://doi.org/10.3992/jgb.2.4.151.
Wedding GC, Crawford-Brown D. An analysis of variation in the energy-related environmental impacts of leed certified buildings. Journal of Green Building. 2007 Jan 1;2(4):151–70.
Wedding, G. C., and D. Crawford-Brown. “An analysis of variation in the energy-related environmental impacts of leed certified buildings.” Journal of Green Building, vol. 2, no. 4, Jan. 2007, pp. 151–70. Scopus, doi:10.3992/jgb.2.4.151.
Wedding GC, Crawford-Brown D. An analysis of variation in the energy-related environmental impacts of leed certified buildings. Journal of Green Building. 2007 Jan 1;2(4):151–170.

Published In

Journal of Green Building

DOI

EISSN

1943-4618

ISSN

1552-6100

Publication Date

January 1, 2007

Volume

2

Issue

4

Start / End Page

151 / 170

Related Subject Headings

  • 3302 Building
  • 3301 Architecture
  • 1202 Building
  • 1201 Architecture