"One failure of the real estate industry is clinging to LEED certification as the standard for eco-friendly buildings. LEED was all the rage for a while and remains the most popular way for owners to showcase how green their buildings are. But with carbon emissions now dwarfing other environmental concerns, what matters most is how efficient buildings are at heating and cooling. Operating costs are also crucial, especially for affordable housing."
"One of the things that attracted me to the passive house standard was, unlike LEED or these green building' [designations] where you get certified based on plans, with passive house it's really all about the performance of the building. At the end of construction, a blower door test determines how leaky the building is. If the building doesn't perform as you project it to, you're not going to get the certification, said Short, who was RiseBoro's housing director and later became CEO."
LEED certification remains widely used but can reward design-phase checklist items that do not guarantee operational energy performance. Carbon emissions and heating and cooling efficiency now represent the most important environmental priorities for buildings, and operating costs are critical for affordable housing viability. Passive House emphasizes measured building performance, requiring verification such as blower door tests and compliance with modeled energy targets before certification. Early efforts to build passive-house multifamily housing encountered subsidy skepticism, multiple funding attempts, and contractor unfamiliarity. Performance-based standards produce buildings that actually perform and reduce long-term energy and operating expenses.
Read at therealdeal.com
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