Page 157 - The Engineering Guide to LEED-New Construction Sustainable Construction for Engineers

CHAPTER 4

LEED Energy and

Atmosphere

he Energy and Atmosphere category of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
rating system for new construction version 2.2 (LEED-NC 2.2) and version 2009
T(LEED-NC 2009) consists of three prerequisite subcategories and six credit
subcategories that together may earn a possible 17 credit points maximum for
version 2.2 and 35 possible points for version 2009 not including exemplary performance
points. The notation format for the prerequisites and credits is, for example, EAp1 for
Energy and Atmosphere prerequisite 1 and EAc1 for Energy and Atmosphere credit 1.
To facilitate cross-referencing between this text and the USGBC rating system, the
second digit in a section heading, equation, table, or figure number represents the
credit subcategory number for sections that deal directly with a USGBC LEED-NC 2.2
or LEED-NC 2009 credit subcategory.
The Energy and Atmosphere (EA) portion deals with practices and policies that
reduce the use of energy at the site, reduce the use of nonrenewable energy both at the
site and at the energy source, and reduce the impact on the global climate, atmosphere,
and environment from both activities at the site and energy sources off-site. Many of the
subcategories in the Sustainable Sites category also deal with practices that may have
an impact on the climate, but usually on a local scale.
The reason why Energy and Atmosphere are combined is that a significant portion of
the air pollution and global climate impacts come from energy sources. Therefore,
reducing or changing these energy sources has a large impact on the atmosphere,
particularly on a more regional or global scale. For example, fossil-based energy sources,
such as fuel oil and coal used in the production of energy, may also release many pollutants
to the air and release additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is
considered to be a greenhouse gas, and it is considered to be nonrenewable to use these
types of fuels, both from an energy source perspective and from a global carbon cycle
perspective. Carbon dioxide emissions can be from the production of materials and other
practices related to construction, but since most of the energy used in the United States is
fossil fuel–based, reducing energy usage is advantageous in a resource and economic
sense as well as in an atmospheric and air pollution prevention sense. To be inclusive,
other credits related to regional or global climate issues are also included in the Energy
and Atmosphere category, even though they are not specific only to energy issues. Also,
one of the credits for enhanced commissioning is not limited solely to energy systems, but
since a large proportion of the systems being commissioned are energy-related, the entire
enhanced commissioning subcategory is included under Energy and Atmosphere.

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