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Renovations (LEED-NC) is a green building rating system that was designed to guide and distinguish high-performance commercial and institutional projects, with a focus on office buildings. Practitioners have also applied the system to K-12 schools, multi-unit residential buildings, manufacturing plants, labo- ratories and many other building types." The City of Eugene used LEED-NC as a guideline in construc- tion of the Downtown Library and Fire Stations #1 and #11. The rating system that applies to the operation and maintenance of the City's existing buildings is LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB). The purpose of LEED-EB is to maximize opera- tional efficiency and work-place quality while minimizing environmental impacts. Rather than a .one-time rating, LEED-EB provides aperformance-based benchmark t , building owners and operators to measure current conditions and improvements to operations and maintenance on a consistent scale. In addition to the strategies noted above, LELD-hR also addresses whole- building cleaning and maintenance issues including chemical use, recy ~lin~~ programs and facilities, exterior maintenance programs, and systems upgrades to meet grec~ buildin~Qenergy, water, IAQ, and lighting performance standards. A related policy question is whether certification under the LEED s em should be regirirc for if LEED should be used as a guideline for building construction a~u} maintcr~ance without formal certification. Obtaining USGBC certification under LEED provides indepcifident cunfination that a project's sustain- ability goals have been achieved. However, the process of certification entails additional administrative effort and adds to a project's overall costs~~ [?~~ existing buildings, certification must be renewed every three years, requiring periodic administrative c - . }ditures that have miil'm benefit on the actual per- formance of a building. '~ } The type and size of a project also has an impact the f~asil~ilit~$ of certification. For new construction or additions to existing buildings, the environmen . performance ohthat construction can be controlled more directly than remodeling or renovating a po ~ n of an existing building.. For small construction projects, such as a park restroom, limited economy of scale and the cost of certification may have a sig- nificant impact on th econom i e fea s i b i l itt~ of certificat~i. ~- , The City's existirt~ hrrildin~, inventor. «~hich~~ir~clr~es buildings from 100 square feet to 130,000 square feet, range®inT u'p'~i air picnic shelters to highly complex buildings like the Library. A number of the City's e~tsting buildings l~avc n~~ centralized eating and air conditioning system, and limited operational. requi re m c rits. As LEED certi t i c a i i on is ~w~ i ~ted on the performance of heating and cooling system and adoption of sustainable maiutcnauce practices, the potential to formally certify many of our existing buildings is 1 i rn ~ to d. In fact, most min-occupied }~uildings do not have centralized heating and cooling systems, significant plumbing or electrical s}stems. and interior finishes are often minimal. As a result non-occupied buildings and other stnrctures fhai clearly do not have the ~ntential For [,F Ell certification would hu cscmpt from n~ccting the cettificati~>n requirement: However, LEED should still be used as a guide in addressing site impacts, type and procurement of construction materials, and other aspects of the LEED criteria that improve the sustainability of the construction and maintenance ofnon-occupied buildings. Given these consideration, the recommendation is that all City new construction (which would .include additions to existing buildings) of 5,000 square feet or larger be certified under LEED's standards for new construction. For all other construction, including all building renovations, and for the operation of existing buildings, certification is desirable, and the feasibility of certification will be evaluated on a case- by-case basis. 4