A case study assessment of the energy consumption of LEED certified academic buildings in Ontario: Is LEED certification necessarily better? by Janine Vanry A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Environmental Studies in Sustainability Management Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2015 ©Janine Vanry 2015 Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract With “commercial and institutional buildings account[ing] for 12% of Canada’s secondary energy use and 11% of [the] national greenhouse gas emissions” (National Resources Canada, 2014), the energy consumption of Canada’s non-residential buildings plays a large role in both climate change and overall energy usage. Making these buildings more energy efficient provides opportunity to reduce both Canadian energy use and the overall effects of climate change from building construction and operation. The LEED New Construction v1 rating system stresses the importance of a building’s energy efficiency by designating 25% of its points towards energy reduction opportunities providing clear indication of the CaGBC’s belief in the potential for LEED certified buildings to reduce overall energy consumption in new buildings. As LEED certified buildings have been constructed for over a decade in Canada, there are opportunities to assess how these buildings are performing from an energy perspective in comparison to provincial averages. This study looks at LEED certified academic buildings in Ontario and evaluates their energy intensity in comparison to provincial survey averages, broad public sector data made available by the Green Energy Act, campus-wide energy intensities, and additionally assesses their actual energy performance in comparison to the modelled energy results submitted for final LEED certification. The results of this research show that the studied LEED certified academic buildings on average perform better than both their provincial average and campus-wide energy iii intensities. The energy modelled results provided for LEED certification on each building under-predicts the energy intensity of the building anywhere from 2 – 44%. Additionally, the results of this research demonstrate the need for better energy surveys and energy benchmarking practices across Ontario. The study aims to aid academic decision-makers in setting reasonable benchmarks for energy intensity targets and to provide recommendations for national benchmarking authorities, the CaGBC and USGBC, as well as energy modelling professionals. Keywords: CaGBC, USGBC, LEED, energy intensity, energy modeling, academic institution, energy efficiency, benchmarks, Green Energy Act, BPS data iv Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank Professor Geoffrey Lewis for his on-going support, wisdom, amazing sense of humour, friendship, and endless guidance throughout this process. Without you my head would have exploded countless times and my experience at the University of Waterloo would not have been the same. Secondly, a very large thank you to my committee member Professor Paul Parker for aiding in strengthening this research and pushing for more answers. A very large thank you to my reader, Dr. John Straube, for taking the time to go through my thesis and for providing constructive insight. Your knowledge and expertise on building performance has been highly regarded and discussed in our household for years. Thank you to all of the SEED faculty and my fellow SUSM colleagues for your broad knowledge, expertise and drive for a sustainable future. My depth of intellect has been significantly impacted by my time spent in the sustainability management program. Thirdly, thank you to all of the contributors to my data collection (there are a lot of you). I could not have completed this research and case studies without all of the wisdom, expertise and data provided by countless energy professionals and academic institutions. Lastly, thank you to the following people/groups/frivolities which made this thesis possible: v Chris Hadlock for your support, editing, and constant knowledge/input ∙ My family for supporting me every step of the way with this thesis ∙ University of Waterloo ∙ Katherine MacLean for all of her hard work behind the scenes of the SUSM program ∙ all forms of caffeine ∙ CaGBC & USGBC ∙ EQuest/EE4 ∙ Microsoft Office ∙ DropBox ∙ Randy Van Straaten for your LEED and M&V help ∙ my body & mind for making it through these past two years ∙ MMM - specifically Antoni Paleshi, Victor Halder, & Arash Ghorayshi for your unparalleled knowledge ∙ Holly Samuelson for your energy modeling expertise ∙ study participants - Western University, McMaster University, Algonquin College & Lakehead University for the valuable information you provided ∙ my Lenovo for surviving my thesis without avail ∙ my friends and colleagues for trying to make this world better one research project at a time. vi Dedication I dedicate my thesis to the most important companions in my life: my husband Chris for his love, support, and understanding through these past two years; my family, friends, and extended family for their on-going support; and my lovable fur-babies – Casey and Bailey. Without your endless support throughout this crazy journey this thesis wouldn’t have been written and my thirst for knowledge quenched (for now...). May there be many more of these exciting turns in the future so that we can continue to grow and learn together. vii Table of Contents AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ...................................................................................................................................... II ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................................... V DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................................................ VII TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................... VIII LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................................................... X LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................................................... XI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................... XII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Defining Sustainability for Buildings ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1.2 Canadian LEED Rating System ................................................................................................................. 2 1.1.3 Energy Efficiency ...................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1.4 Documentation Practices for Building Energy Performance .................................................................... 5 1.1.5 Measuring Building Performance ............................................................................................................ 7 1.2 MOTIVATIONS .................................................................................................................................................. 8 1.3 OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................................................................... 11 1.4 THESIS ORGANIZATION ..................................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................... 13 2.1 ENERGY PERFORMANCE OF LEED CERTIFIED BUILDINGS ......................................................................................... 13 2.2 CURRENT ENERGY BENCHMARKS ........................................................................................................................ 22 2.3 THE ACCURACY OF BUILDING ENERGY MODELS ..................................................................................................... 28 viii CHAPTER 3: METHODS ................................................................................................................................... 34 3.1 CASE STUDY APPROACH ................................................................................................................................... 34 3.2 DATA AND SELECTION CRITERIA ........................................................................................................................