LEED standardization in construction is going underground—that is, to find new sources of energy.

Construction industry leaders have increasingly strong reasons to factor in building sustainability and decarbonization at the outset of projects. The U.S. Green Building Council just released LEED v5, the latest version of its influential standards around health, environmental impact and decarbonization for buildings. LEED v5 reflects the USGBC’s heightened focus on reducing the carbon emissions of buildings—buildings account for about 40% of global energy use and emissions—with decarbonization now accounting for half of all points to achieve certification. And crucially, LEED v5 includes heat pumps as key tools for decarbonization and energy efficiency in obtaining points. Industry leaders need to keep this in mind—and need to especially consider a type of heat pump that enables greater long-term energy savings: geothermal.

REGULATIONS AND GREEN PREMIUMS

LEED certification isn’t mandatory, so why should construction industry leaders and contractors invest in the greener building techniques that meet LEED standards?

Municipalities and states across the U.S. are enacting more stringent building performance standards, many of which include carbon caps and broadly align with LEED. This is especially the case in the country’s premium real estate markets—cities like New York, Boston and Seattle (for example, Local Law 97 in New York City mandates carbon caps for buildings over 25,000 square feet). Developers must now factor in carbon emissions not just during construction, but over the lifecycle of the building.

But it’s not just regulation. There’s a growing market-based green premium for sustainable buildings, especially those that can demonstrate low operational costs and carbon footprints. According to research by real estate company JLL, premiums for LEED certified buildings in terms of rental cost, once factors like location and building age are accounted for, average just over 7% globally and 11.6% across eight cities in North America (for reference, there are 1,437 LEED projects equaling over 414 million gross square feet in the top ten U.S. states for such projects). This means buildings that are LEED certified have higher value in the real estate market and typically accrue more financially to owners—a major selling point for LEED-compliant construction practices.

As construction executives look to better incorporate sustainable practices holistically into buildings for both regulatory and financial reasons, there is a key area they cannot ignore. LEED v5 includes heating and cooling within its decarbonization standards due to heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems being among the largest energy consumers in a building, often accounting for more than 40% of total energy use.

Integrating geothermal heating and cooling systems from the outset of design can play a key role in new builds and retrofits across a wide range of buildings, whether they’re part of LEED certification or not.

THE ROLE OF HEATING AND COOLING

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that about 30% of energy in U.S. commercial buildings is wasted. This represents not just excess carbon emissions but money going literally out the window.  They also represent a major source of carbon emissions, particularly in older buildings reliant on fossil fuel-based heating.

Increasingly, developers and building owners and managers looking to solve these problems are turning to heat pumps. These address some of the energy efficiency issues of HVAC systems; it’s estimated that air-source heat pumps perform on average two or three times as efficiently as fossil fuel-based systems. But while air-source heat pumps tend to predominate currently in North America, another type of heat pump that is more commonly used in Europe can actually boost energy efficiency four to six fold: the ground-source—or geothermal—heat pump.

THE GEOTHERMAL ADVANTAGE

Geothermal heat pumps and HVAC systems transfer heat between a building and the relatively stable temperature of the earth, using the ground as a heat sink in summer and a heat source in winter. This drastically reduces the amount of energy needed to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures, as there’s no drop in output based on outside temperature levels (as there often is with air-source heat pumps).

Advanced technology also enables the drilling of boreholes in remarkably compact spaces. For dense urban developments or university campuses where land is limited, geothermal offers a powerful, compact solution to meeting carbon reduction goals. These systems are also highly compatible with retrofits as well as new construction projects, an important factor in many older cities. All this is why LEED v5 includes geothermal heat pumps as a way to gain points toward certification.

While geothermal HVAC systems often involve higher upfront installation costs (which is why they tend to be less common than air-source systems), they pay off over time through lower energy bills, greater reliability and better efficiency in colder climates, due to their tapping into the earth’s stable temperature rather than relying on unstable and unreliable energy sources. When integrated early in the design process—particularly in new construction—those installation costs can be minimized, making the investment even more attractive. And, depending on location, government incentives like tax credits and utility rebates can help offset the initial capital outlay.

HOW GEO-EXCHANGE NETWORKS BOOST EFFICIENCY AND CUT ENERGY USE

As construction leaders and decision-makers contemplate the future, they can and should think beyond individual buildings. In any relatively dense area, there will be buildings whose occupancy varies by hour of the day—commercial buildings full during the day and empty at night, while residential buildings are the opposite. This opens opportunities for buildings with geothermal HVAC systems to share—or even sell—their excess energy  at different periods of the day when demand fluctuates, helping to balance overall energy demand and reduce the need for fossil fuel energy generation overall. As municipalities and institutions look to decarbonize, these geo-exchange networks offer a pathway to broad-scale emissions reductions.

PARTNERSHIPS FOR BUILDING DECARBONIZATION

As green construction moves from luxury to necessity, the sustainability of HVAC systems will become less a challenge and more an opportunity. But this cannot take place in a silo; to fully take advantage of technologies that enable geothermal heating and cooling and ultimately geo-exchange networks, construction executives need to seek out key partners in the energy, technology and utility spaces to fully mobilize the expertise that’s available to drive sustainability across projects. The firms that build these partnerships now will lead the market tomorrow.

In a rapidly evolving construction landscape, geothermal heating and cooling technologies stand out not only for their environmental performance, but also for their economic and operational advantages. As LEED v5 raises the bar for decarbonization and sustainability, early integration of geothermal HVAC systems can be a crucial differentiator, helping developers meet ambitious standards, avoid regulatory risks and deliver long-term value for owners and occupants alike.

SEE ALSO: ENERGY STAR VS. LEED: WHICH CERTIFICATION IS BEST FOR YOUR CONSTRUCTION PROJECT?