Rating System

LEED O+M: Existing Buildings

Rating System Version

v3 - LEED 2009, v3 - LEED 2008

Inquiry

The Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems Headquarters (IDS HQ), located in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, is a 600,000 square foot multi-use facility primarily focused on research and development. It is a hybrid complex with three interlinked buildings connected by conditioned space, consisting of server rooms, dry laboratories, and office space. Raytheon IDS is a defense contractor and the majority of the work performed at IDS HQ is engineering work, primarily software development and equipment testing. Our laboratories are dry laboratories, used for engineering and prototype development of electrical test equipment. In addition, our complex has multiple server rooms of various sizes due to customer requirements and contracts that dictate compartmentalized areas. Our team has evaluated our options for benchmarking energy use under EA Prerequisite 2 and Credit 1. The LEED system provides us with three options. Option A does not apply to this facility because our laboratory space is greater than 10% and we are not eligible to receive a rating in Portfolio Manager. Option B is also not viable for this facility, since Portfolio Manager does not provide a national average for laboratories. Option C also requires some way of benchmarking our facility\'s performance. On February 4, 2008, the USGBC issued a credit interpretation ruling indicating that the Labs21 benchmarking tool may be used for benchmarking laboratories that are pursing LEED for Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance certification, which states in part: "An alternative approach for your laboratory building would be to use the Energy Benchmarking Tool available through Laboratories for the 21st Century (Labs21), which is a resource co-sponsored by the EPA and DOE for the design, construction, and operation of laboratories." The Labs21 tool will allow us to input data on our facility and compare it to other buildings in the database, using whole building metrics (e.g. total kBTU/sf-yr) as well as system level metrics (e.g. ventilation system W/cfm). The tool also allows us to filter the data set to obtain an appropriate peer group based on four parameters: climate zone, lab type, lab area ratio, and occupancy hours to gain the most comparable data set available for benchmarking. However, unlike the Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool, the Labs21 tool does not provide a 1-100 rating which can directly be used to determine points for EA credit 1. We are proposing to use the following approach outlined in the document prepared by Labs21, titled "Guidance on Using the Labs21 Benchmarking Tool for LEED-EB" to document our energy consumption for EA Prerequisite 2 and Credit 1. Step 1: Retrieve benchmarking data for Total Building kBTU/sf, applying filters as appropriate Step 2: Calculate average value of Total Building kBTU/sf and percentage better than average for the subject building Step 3: Determine the number of points based on percentage better than the average, using the same criteria as that provided for option B. Raytheon is an ENERGY STAR Partner and is committed to reducing energy in our facilities, including annual energy consumption reduction goals. Our only hurdle is in finding the appropriate benchmarking tool to analyze our energy consumption. Raytheon has used the Labs21 benchmarking tool at comparable research and development facilities in the northeast to prioritize and identify energy conservation opportunities and we believe it is an appropriate tool for this facility as well. Please confirm that this approach to demonstrating compliance with EA Prerequisite 2 and Credit 1 is acceptable to the USGBC. If acceptable, please confirm whether the annual energy consumption should be based on the most recent 12 months of data or if it should be calculated using a three year average.