Rating System

LEED O+M: Existing Buildings, LEED O+M: Existing Buildings

Rating System Version

v3 - LEED 2008, v3 - LEED 2009

Inquiry

Energy Star rating requirements for multiple buildings on a campus site. The project team is currently evaluating and pursuing LEED certification for multiple similar occupancy buildings (dormitory/apartments) on a higher education campus as one package. The complex consists of four dormitory/apartment buildings with identical occupancy and usage characteristics, one recreational building, two shared parking garages, and one common central plant that includes chillers, pumps, cooling tower, boilers, domestic water pumps, domestic hot water heaters, and fire protection. There are six electric meters; one for each building and one for each chiller. The electricity associated with the central plant equipment, with exception to the chillers, is metered at one of the building meters. Each chiller has its own electric meter. There is one gas meter which serves the two central plant boilers and six domestic water heaters. All five buildings and two parking garages operate as one facility on the 8 acre site, serving the University. The buildings are approximately 800,000sf and serve the housing needs of over 2,000 students. The University has other campus housing, located remotely from this site, serving another 8,000 students. Per the USGBC two page document "LEED and Higher Education", a whole campus can be LEED certified. This document also offers the Portfolio Program as a "volume LEED certification process" which "will allow for streamlining of certification for multiple buildings on one campus." We interpret this to allow us to model the four buildings as one \'facility\' using the Portfolio Manager Tool. We have entered the data for each of the buildings and parking garages associated with the campus into the Portfolio Manager as one facility since the entire campus has one common central plant. Since the entire campus of dormitory/apartment buildings is pursuing LEED EB certification under the O& M rating system as one facility and not as individual buildings, we believe that the method listed above is appropriate for determining overall operating energy efficiency of the campus (facility). Please advise as to whether you agree with our approach for this evaluation.