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Are LEED-Certified Buildings Energy-Efficient in Practice?

Author

Listed:
  • Ali Amiri

    (Department of Built Environment/School of Engineering, Aalto University, 00076 Espoo, Finland)

  • Juudit Ottelin

    (Department of Built Environment/School of Engineering, Aalto University, 00076 Espoo, Finland)

  • Jaana Sorvari

    (Department of Built Environment/School of Engineering, Aalto University, 00076 Espoo, Finland)

Abstract

Depletion of natural resources and climate change are undoubtedly the biggest challenges that humankind faces today. Here, buildings have a crucial role since they consume the majority, i.e., 30% to 40% of the total energy resources. Green building certification is one of the solutions to limit the energy use in buildings. In addition, it is seen to indicate a consideration for sustainability aspects in construction. LEED is the most widely used certificate worldwide. However, recently some critics have raised doubts about LEED and whether it actually implies sustainability. Most of the criticism has been targeted to the energy aspects of LEED. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on the usefulness of LEED: is it really beneficial for the environment, and is it worth of the money and time invested on the certification process? In this study a critical analysis of the literature to find an answer to this question is presented. Altogether 44 peer reviewed articles dealing with the abovementioned issue were selected out of 164 search result. Based on the studied material, the different aspects of LEED from the viewpoint of energy-efficiency are discussed. From the 44 reviewed articles, ten articles state that LEED certificate indicates energy efficiency while eight papers end up with an opposite conclusion. The rest of the papers do not take any stand on this matter. The study showed that energy efficiency of LEED-certified buildings is questionable especially at lower levels, i.e., certified. Therefore, it is recommended to modify the Energy and Atmosphere category of LEED in order to improve the actual energy performance of buildings.

Suggested Citation

  • Ali Amiri & Juudit Ottelin & Jaana Sorvari, 2019. "Are LEED-Certified Buildings Energy-Efficient in Practice?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:6:p:1672-:d:215526
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    3. Prescott C. Ensign & Shawn Roy & Tom Brzustowski, 2021. "Decisions by Key Office Building Stakeholders to Build or Retrofit Green in Toronto’s Urban Core," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-31, June.
    4. Mohamed Marzouk & Rana Ayman & Zaid Alwan & Nehal Elshaboury, 2022. "Green building system integration into project delivery utilising BIM," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 6467-6480, May.
    5. Carmela Cucuzzella, 2021. "Making the Invisible Visible: Eco-Art and Design against the Anthropocene," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-16, March.
    6. Vaisi, Salah & Varmazyari, Pouya & Esfandiari, Masoud & Sharbaf, Sara A., 2023. "Developing a multi-level energy benchmarking and certification system for office buildings in a cold climate region," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    7. Ali Amiri & Juudit Ottelin & Jaana Sorvari & Seppo Junnila, 2020. "Economic and Technical Considerations in Pursuing Green Building Certification: A Case Study from Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-14, January.
    8. Baoquan Cheng & Jingwei Li & Vivian W. Y. Tam & Ming Yang & Dong Chen, 2020. "A BIM-LCA Approach for Estimating the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Large-Scale Public Buildings: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, January.
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    10. Sangtae No & Chungyeon Won, 2020. "Comparative Analysis of Energy Consumption between Green Building Certified and Non-Certified Buildings in Korea," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-16, February.
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