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LEED v4: Where Are We Now? Critical Assessment through the LCA of an Office Building Using a Low Impact Energy Consumption Mix

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  • Yannick Lessard
  • Chirjiv Anand
  • Pierre Blanchet
  • Caroline Frenette
  • Ben Amor

Abstract

Various green building rating systems (GBRSs) have been proposed to reduce the environmental impact of buildings. However, these GBRSs, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) v4, are primarily oriented toward a building's use stage energy consumption. Their application in contexts involving a high share of renewable energy, and hence a low‐impact electricity mix, can result in undesirable side effects. This paper aims to investigate such effects, based on an existing office building in Quebec (Canada), where more than 95% of the electricity consumption mix is renewable. This paper compares the material impacts from a low‐energy context building to material considerations in LEED v4. In addition to their contributions to the building impacts, material impacts are also defined by their potential to change impacts with different material configurations. Life cycle assessment (LCA) impacts were evaluated using Simapro 8.2, the ecoinvent 3.1 database, and the IMPACT 2002+ method. The building LCA results indicated higher environmental impact contributions from materials (>50%) compared to those from energy consumption. This is in contrast with the LEED v4 rating system, as it did not seem to be as effective in capturing such effects. The conclusions drawn from this work will help stakeholders from the buildings sector to have a better understanding of building environmental profiles, and the limitations of LEED v4 in contexts involving a low‐impact energy mix. In addition, this critical assessment can be used to further improve the LEED certification system.

Suggested Citation

  • Yannick Lessard & Chirjiv Anand & Pierre Blanchet & Caroline Frenette & Ben Amor, 2018. "LEED v4: Where Are We Now? Critical Assessment through the LCA of an Office Building Using a Low Impact Energy Consumption Mix," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(5), pages 1105-1116, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:22:y:2018:i:5:p:1105-1116
    DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12647
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wu, Peng & Song, Yongze & Shou, Wenchi & Chi, Hunglin & Chong, Heap-Yih & Sutrisna, Monty, 2017. "A comprehensive analysis of the credits obtained by LEED 2009 certified green buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P1), pages 370-379.
    2. Chau, C.K. & Leung, T.M. & Ng, W.Y., 2015. "A review on Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Energy Assessment and Life Cycle Carbon Emissions Assessment on buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 395-413.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhuyuan Xue & Hongbo Liu & Qinxiao Zhang & Jingxin Wang & Jilin Fan & Xia Zhou, 2019. "The Impact Assessment of Campus Buildings Based on a Life Cycle Assessment–Life Cycle Cost Integrated Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Svetlana Pushkar, 2023. "LEED-CI v4 Projects in Terms of Life Cycle Assessment in Manhattan, New York City: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-16, January.
    3. Svetlana Pushkar, 2023. "Life-Cycle Assessment of LEED-CI v4 Projects in Shanghai, China: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Kikki Lambrecht Ipsen & Massimo Pizzol & Morten Birkved & Ben Amor, 2024. "Environmental performance of eco‐design strategies applied to the building sector," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(3), pages 556-572, June.

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