While the EBOM recertification requirement still exists, USGBC has made it easier with the Performance and Establishment facets of each credit. Can you explain what these mean?
We’re all familiar with the “performance period” aspect of LEED-EBOM — the four to 12 months when LEED credit strategies are supposed to be fully implemented.
Now with LEED v4 we have an “establishment period,” when project teams can draft policies, assess their infrastructure, and put in place programs to enable ongoing performance measurement.
LEED v4 prerequisites and credits are structured with both Establishment and Performance requirements. In some cases there is a prerequisite containing Establishment requirements that cue up a credit containing Performance requirements. For example, MRp1 requires an environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) policy to be put in place during an Establishment period, but defers more stringent Performance period requirements to MRc4.
With credits like LTc1: Alternative Transportation that are focused on how the building is performing, there are no Establishment Period requirements. The credit focuses on the Performance Period, requiring administration of a transportation survey at least every five years.
This establishment and performance approach isn’t anything new — it was already an implicit part of LEED-EBOM. But by highlighting this structure, USGBC hopes to simply make it more clear what project teams need to do to get the ball rolling, and what they’ll be required to do to demonstrate ongoing sustainability. It also sets projects up better for recertification — an aspect of LEED-EBOM that has not been clearly defined in the past.
Answers provided by Tristan Roberts, editorial director for BuildingGreen, Inc., the main voice behind its popular LEED help tool LEEDuser.com, and moderator of the LEEDuser forum.
Most Impactful Changes in LEED v4
LEED-EBOM's Performance and Establishment Requirements
