From the Editor
If there’s any one aspect of LEED causing the most confusion, it may well be the rating systems’ Minimum Program Requirements, or MPRs. Released as a sort of addendum to LEED 2009, and gently tweaked a bit here and there since, the MPRs are a list of seven characteristics that every LEED building must meet to earn certification.

MPRs are different from each rating system’s individual prerequisite credits in that the MPRs apply to all LEED rating systems, and with a few exceptions, don’t vary much between the rating systems. They cover broad requirements: LEED buildings must comply with all local environmental laws, as one example. As another: The structure must be a complete, permanent building.

Perhaps the most widely scrutinized MPR is the one that requires LEED owners to submit five years worth of energy and water data. According to the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC), the idea behind this MPR is so that it can study the performance of LEED certified buildings over the long term, and thereby address criticism that LEED buildings may not perform as well as non-LEED buildings.

When the MPRs were officially announced in late 2009, misunderstanding about this data-sharing MPR led to reports that USGBC was angling to revoke certifications for poor performance. Why else would it require that you send them your data? But while that rumor persists — i.e, that USGBC still might revoke a LEED certification for a poorly performing building (and, frankly, doesn’t it stand to reason that energy hog buildings should have certification revoked?) — the MPR that requires the reporting really is nothing more than a built-in LEED study.

What’s your understanding of the MPRs? Have they caused issues for you or your project team on a LEED certification initiative?

Cheers,

Greg Zimmerman, editor  

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