Key Takeaways:
LEED v5 emphasizes ongoing performance, carbon reduction and climate resilience — all key areas where facility managers play a critical role. However, earlier versions did not always take their role into consideration.
Under LEED v4, many facilities teams were brought into projects too late in the game, whereas LEED v5 encourages their involvement much earlier, says Eric Haggstrom, director of sustainability at JCJ Architecture.
“Facility managers were brought into the design process much, much later, either after construction documents were done, and construction was already happening or right at the end of construction documents,” says Haggstrom. “That doesn't really work anymore. Also, to be completely fair, it was never really the best approach for the industry.”
This also comes at a time where building systems are becoming increasingly more sophisticated. Having managers involved earlier in the planning processes can help inform decision making for what to incorporate and avoid in these projects.
Additionally, this is going to require a degree of buy-in from the facilities department and understanding what the maintenance and operation of those systems is going to entail, says Haggstrom. Those critical decisions will also need to be made earlier in the design process when there is more flexibility to impact the design and make changes.
To that point, under LEED v4, enhanced commissioning was done during construction, and a bonus point for post-occupancy evaluation was just being added.
“That post-occupancy evaluation is the lifeblood of every facilities department,” says Haggstrom. “Though now, that evaluation of how the building is performing is becoming part of the LEED v5 metric.”
Beyond changing when facility managers become involved, LEED v5 is also changing how building performance is measured.
Another shift is that LEED v5 moves the focus from energy consumption to carbon emissions, creating a new performance metric. Carbon is now the primary measurement, not energy alone. That means facility managers now must know not only how much energy they use, but where said energy comes from as well.
“So, facilities managers and folks who are doing capital planning are looking at maybe a campus of buildings, for example, so they need to be thinking about more than just the individual performance of the buildings,” says Haggstrom. “From a bottom-line standpoint, they need to be thinking about how that building gets the energy that it needs. It's better to use electricity than burning fossil fuels on site.”
Since managers need to consider energy sourcing and not just consumption, electrification now comes to the forefront as a potential solution. A kilowatt-hour from renewable electricity has a different carbon impact than one generated from fossil fuels, according to Haggstrom.
He adds that more buildings are being pushed towards full electrification. Some are even looking at grid harmonization, which is trying to build energy storage so that they can take advantage of spreading the demand their building has over a longer period.
Moreover, building energy use is no longer judged solely by how much electricity is consumed, but also when it is consumed. LEED v5 encourages facilities teams to consider strategies such as electrification, energy storage and demand management to reduce both operating costs and carbon emissions.
Carbon planning is pushing managers to think decades ahead, and LEED v5 extends that same long-term mindset to climate resilience.
“LEED v5 is really the first version of LEED where climate resilience assessment is part of the conversation,” says Haggstrom.
He says that buildings have traditionally been designed using historical climate assumptions, and that trend does not work as well because climate conditions are changing within the lifespan of a building. This now requires managers to understand what their climate risks may look like 30 to 50 years from now.
“Facility managers need to plan for what their property may face 30 years from now,” he says. “If heating degree days increase in their region, will their systems still be able to maintain occupant comfort? Are the building's exterior materials resilient and adaptable enough to withstand future conditions?”
As an example, Haggstrom says much of the conversation in Boston centers on sea level rise and flooding. Rather than focusing solely on today’s FEMA flood maps, he is looking at what areas could be in the flood zone in 2060 or 2070. Ultimately, managers must consider what climate-related risks could emerge in the future and what economic impact those events could have on their organizations when planning and evaluating portfolios.
“Banks are increasingly looking at this data and saying if you want to borrow money to build a facility that will be here for 30 years, you must prove it will still be here in 30 years,” he says. “Those kinds of things are becoming important for facilities managers to consider for their planning.”
Facility managers are increasingly being asked to think beyond building operations and become long-term strategic advisors. That requires them to influence decisions earlier on in a building’s lifecycle and to plan longer-term for carbon and resilience.
"Resilience is the new maintenance strategy,” says Haggstrom.
Ultimately, facilities teams need not just consider how their buildings perform currently, but how these buildings will perform decades into the future.
Jeff Wardon, Jr., is the assistant editor for the facilities market. With more than three years of experience, he covers topics including technology, wellness, sustainability and emerging industry trends.
