Caylen Payne Research Methods in Geography and Planning 10/13/10 Dr. Barrett
Green-building and LEED projects in the U.S., A Regional Analysis In recent years building trends in the U.S. and around the world have become increasingly concentrated around the idea of sustainable development and green-building. These ideas have filtered through the academic world for years, however, it’s only in the last decade or so that we’ve witnessed such a surge in interest by non-governmental institutions, including universities, corporations, and other non-profit entities. One of the major establishments in the development of sustainable architecture has been the development of the LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification program. This program established by the US Green Building Council is a rating and certification system designed to categorize the level of green building techniques utilized by new and old building projects. One of the interesting aspects of the LEED program is that it doesn’t just apply to new projects, but can also be utilized by older buildings as well as schools, homes, and hospitals that need to be updated and improved. The program has the set the benchmark for organization and implementation of consistent criteria for which environmental design and practices may be judged. Many questions arise when one takes a closer look at the LEED system and greenbuilding trends in general in the United States. These questions may be answered by simple research into market trends and other overview techniques; however what I’m really interested in is the spatial distribution of new green-buildings, and new LEED certifications. I want to find out what trends exist in the regional distribution of such buildings throughout the U.S. Is there a hub, or major region for such new buildings, such as we find for computer development in “Silicon Valley”? Ultimately, I want to find out why green-building and LEED certifications are happening in some areas and not others, and whether or not these trends may be interpreted in a
regional context. In addition I will examine trends in the different LEED certification levels, and program types. Methodology and Study Area Although sustainable development is happening all over the world, the established LEED system in the U.S. and its extensive database of related information provide a perfect framework for studying green-building. Consequently the study area will be limited to the continental United States. Thus the main bulk of the data comes from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The USGBC maintains a database of all registered and certified LEED buildings through its website. This database contains information related to current and past LEED projects and is maintained with help from LEED project organizers, who are responsible for updating information as it’s created on their own individual projects. Within this database I was able to apply several filters in order to manipulate the data into my study area as well as prepare it for connection to the corresponding mapping information. Zip code information from the LEED database was extracted and then aggregated to the county and then state levels in order to present the information on a national level. In addition to this database, I used the U.S. Census Bureau’s TIGER/Line zip code, state, and national boundary files to map the LEED spatial distribution. Once all the information had been manipulated to fit into the TIGER/Line boundary files a U.S. map was created with the LEED data mapped at the county level and represented with a chlorepleth map utilizing a natural breaks (jenks) method to determine the density of LEED projects. On the national level I delineated the states into vernacular regions to develop a regional profile of LEED distribution (Zelinsky1980). I limited the study area to the contiguous U.S. in order to represent the data within the vernacular regions; The North East, The Middle West, The South, Western, Pacific, and North East as per Zelinsky’s delineations. To further understand trends within the LEED program itself, several tables were created and displayed as bar charts and stacked bar charts. The stacked bar chart was created to understand what LEED project types were most popular and what certification levels within that project type were most dominant. The simple bar chart was created to see which certification levels are most dominant. Literature Review
The history of green-building is an interesting and informative example of architecture trends coupled with market demands and a growing awareness of environmentalism. While most people think of green-building as a relatively new trend, several historical examples actually predate the modern push for environmental housing. Among them is the original Crystal Palace of London’s World Fair, this unique exposition was held in 1851 and was the first major exposition of manufactured products. The Crystal Palace was built to be disassembled and recycled in order to recoup costs. In addition it utilized a passive solar heating system as well as underground air-cooling chambers and roof ventilators to moderate indoor temperature (Cassidy 2003). While this example and others like it are models of what could have been, they still stand alone in history as unique forbearers to our modern way of green-building. In the 19th century many new technologies were being developed in the skyscrapers of the era, including new HVAC systems and other building techniques, but they still didn’t fit in with the green model of building as we’ve come to understand it today. Fast forward to the 1970’s oil crisis and the ensuing OPEC embargo and we find the real impetus for the green-building movement (Briggs 2007). Following this crisis several government committees and groups were formed to study the issue of energy conservation in new and existing building designs. The real turning point in sustainable development occurred in 1993 with the AIA/UIA convention of architects held in Chicago. This convention made many formal definitions and declarations that were adopted to serve as blueprints for new green-building guidelines, including the formation of LEED, or Leadership and Environmental Design (Kibert and Kibert 2008). That same year the USGBC, or U.S. Green Building Council, was founded as a non-profit organization committed to the future of green-building. It is through the USGBC and its accredited LEED-AP’s, (certified professionals) that buildings actually receive LEED certification. The system utilizes a point based ranking system to determine whether a building receives certified status (30% energy savings) to platinum status, (70% energy savings), (USGBC2010). This is one of the interesting aspects of LEED, in that it allows builders and owners to customize their project according to their specific environmental and usage needs. This customization system is implemented through the use of a point system, whereas different efficiency techniques represent different types and amount of points. These points can be spent on a variety of building systems depending on the wishes and needs of the project developers. This is why LEED has been described as a market-driven system, the irony
being that most of its early and continuing projects include government agencies such as the GSA and the EPA.(Cassidy 2003) One of the biggest questions facing potential LEED developers and interested parties is the question of cost/benefit ratios. While there are examples of green-buildings costing as much as 10-15% more than their conventional counterparts, the majority of studies come to the conclusion that the green premium, or percentage difference in cost between green and conventional buildings, hovers between 0% and +4% (Greg Kats 2010). In addition to the green premium concept, there is the question of direct energy savings which according to data obtained from the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey, hovers around 34% percent. Overall it has been determined that for most LEED-NC’s, (new construction) there are not only immediate paybacks, found through water and energy savings, but long term net paybacks based on employee productivity and health and safety. Most of these studies serve to reinforce that LEED is effective in reducing energy consumption and improving other factors associated with building usage.(Cidell 2009) There have been studies done that show a strong correlation between occupancy trends, the effect of a green building on employee absenteeism and productivity, and LEED new and existing construction projects (Greg Kats 2010). Besides these specific case studies there has been further research into the geography of standards, and their shift from firm based standards, (employed by BP, Ford, etc..) to government standards on the local and state level (Greg Kats 2010; Cidell 2009). One of the emerging trends in green-building research focuses on the geographic aspect of LEED. This work is being spearheaded by the USGBC through its research branch and includes an ongoing collaboration with ESRI to provide online data on the spatial distribution of LEED projects (USGBC 2010). In addition the LEED information can be easily combined with other data layers including, real-estate, demographic, and environmental data. The use of GIS in studying LEED is a very new and developing subject that has yet to be fully explored (Pyke 2010). The USGBC itself is in the process of developing neighborhood certification standards and has recognized the need for greater involvement on the regional level. While this project is in its relative infancy, many new neighborhood developments are in the process of being evaluated with the LEED-ND system, including a Canadian example in Faubourg Boisbriand, Quebec (USGBC 2010).
Results The results of mapping all green building projects and existing buildings in the U.S. reveals some interesting results, however the overall picture represents some common held notions on the spatial location of green-buildings. The overall spatial distribution tends to gravitate toward higher density metropolitan areas with higher incomes and a higher density of academic institutions. While anomalies exist in this overall trend, the overall spatial pattern reveals a concentration of green buildings per population (per capita) located in several vernacular regions throughout the U.S. Among those are the Pacific-Northwest and to a lesser extent Southern California and the East Coast, and the least concentrations occurring in the South, Western, and Middle West accordingly. Among the results that are more interesting is the fact that while the biggest cities in the U.S. do contain the highest concentration of green-buildings, that is not the only indicator of green-building density. Other factors such as academic institutions and income level appear to play a bigger factor than expected. Among the factors for this could be the creation of a professional and academic community that supports and is aware of the need for green-building practices. In addition, this “community� also seems to support an infrastructure of greenbuildings centered around civic, academic, and government institutions. Overall the general assumption that green-buildings will tend to conglomerate around bigger population areas holds true. However other geo-social factors play a significant role in determining green-building spatial distribution.
In terms of LEED projects by certification levels the highest value corresponds to the Gold certification level with the lowest corresponding to the Bronze level. The Gold level is easily the most attainable by developers because it represents the best cost benefit ratio (Greg Kats 2010). The highest level, Platinum, is usually reserved for those that wish to obtain the highest ranking, not only for efficiency, but to suit the particular needs of their building situation. This combination of site factors during construction or convienent recycling of redone commercial interiors, in addition to the clout of the Platinum level may lead some to pursue this ranking. The Bronze level is negligible because it represents many over-lapping specifications that can be mitigated by pursuing either the Certified level, or the Silver level (USGBC 2010).
The different types of LEED projects represent the multitude of ways developers and owners of buildings can pursue an energy efficient design utilizing the LEED certification system. LEED Certification systems LEED New Construction LEED Schools LEED Core and Shell
Addresses new construction issues such as material type, water usage, local specific options. Incorporates criteria specifically aimed at creating a hospitable and environmentally safe school. Differentiates between Core, HVAC and other interior
options, and Shell, the outer construction features for situations where a speculative building has multiple developers. LEED Commercial Interiors
This project type identifies interior design issues that can be mitigated with LEED certification standards.
LEED Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance
The EBO&M type identifies methods for improving existing buildings through retrofitting interiors and improving operations and maintenance procedures.
LEED Retail
This type specifies green-building techniques that can be utilized in a commercial retail environment.
LEED Neighborhood Development(Pilot Stage)
This pilot program is being developed in order to address issues arising from new development construction, includes building types as well as transportation and water networks
By far the highest level of LEED projects are occurring in the new construction area. Perhaps this is due to developers wishing to achieve the highest level of cost to benefit ratios associated with LEED new construction. While the general perception may be that LEED projects cost more up front, research shows that eventually these higher prices pay for themselves in productivity gains and energy savings (Greg Kats 2010). The two lowest project types were school and retail. This may result from the fact that most new school projects are publicly funded and lack the financial support to incorporate LEED features. Retail projects are mostly company specific, meaning the company wishes to promote itself as environmentally aware to attract customers.
Discussion One of the problems in developing an understanding of the spatial distribution of LEED projects is that no studies have actually taken into account this distribution over time (Cidell 2009). Other unique indicators present within the political ecology of the green “builtenvironment�, are factors that include the human, or psychological and physical factors that provide the driving force for creating an environment of sustainability within a region(Cidell 2009). These factors include the need for improvement, efficiency and productivity. With the incorporation of GIS and further, more comprehensive studies, it is possible that very soon we’ll be able to understand and fully recognize the myriad of factors that drive sustainable development in the U.S. and abroad.
While it appears that the spatial distribution of LEED buildings and projects favor the higher density metropolitan areas that contain government and corporate offices, it is ironic that a more wide-spread distribution is not found. Perhaps this is due to the commonly held notion that LEED projects are too expensive initially, with too long a waiting period before costs are recouped. While the capital for such projects may not exist in more remote, or lower population density areas, it is likely that over time the general perception will sway to the green side as energy and material costs continue to rise(Cidell 2009). In addition, as technological and theoretical concepts continue to advance, cost/benefit ratios will inevitably rise making LEED projects more appealing and practical for more developers, owners, and tenants. Conclusion With the recent housing market collapse and the subsequent economic downturn never has it been more necessary for humans to address their built environment. While most people think of energy usage in terms of cars and electricity in their homes, the irony is that buildings in general account for approximately 40% of all U.S. energy consumption and a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions (USGBC 2008, Green Buildings by the Numbers). With the growing awareness of environmental issues and the continued development of the LEED certification system, it is inevitable that green-building will continue to infiltrate its way into mainstream construction and neighborhood development. One of the leaders in green building is actually the government itself(Gottfried and Malik 2009). Through the General Services Administration, LEED certification has become a mandate for an ever increasing number of government projects. The reason behind this is simply good investment techniques. Why pay a little less for something now, when it’s going to cost you more in the long run? Overall the LEED system has continued to grow by leaps and bounds since its inception in the early 90’s. Hopefully in the long run more institutions and business will mandate this common sense approach to saving energy and lessening the negative impacts of buildings on the environment.
Works Cited Briggs, Peter. 2007. Following Leed. Landscapes/Paysages 9 (1):18.
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