Source: U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, D.C.

USGBC envisions its new Building Performance Initiative as a comprehensive data-collection and analysis effort from all LEED-certified projects, yielding feedback with which owners can address predicted versus actual building performance gaps. It dovetails with a requirement the council announced earlier this year concerning ongoing performance data from buildings as part of certification under the latest LEED version.

"This initiative is about gathering building performance [data] in a way no one has ever done before," says USGBC LEED Senior Vice President Scot Horst. While the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program sought to reduce projects’ impact on the environment by being more energy, water and resource efficient, he adds, day-to-day operation has a big impact on building performance.

Four Building Performance Initiative summits will be held in September and October, offering participants a preview of USGBC's data-collection agenda and proposed analysis methodology. Input from the gatherings will be reported at the First Annual Building Performance Summit during the 2009 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, Nov. 11-13, in Phoenix.