Comparing Environmental Performance and Indoor Comfort of LEED(TM) certified and Conventional Schools in Houston, Texas
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Date
2016-10-27
Authors
Dhar, Tanvi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
LEED(TM) for schools was introduced in response to research that showed the
influence of classroom environment on energy savings and students’ performance. There
is however a need to investigate the relationship between credits achieved by the
LEED(TM) for schools rating system and its impact on building performance. This study
quantifies and analyzes resource consumption and indoor comfort of two LEED(TM)
certified elementary schools in Houston, Texas by comparing them to their conventional
counterparts. Year-long metered data for 2015 was analyzed for resource consumption.
Indoor comfort was analyzed by recording visual and thermal comfort metrics for a north
and south oriented classroom in each school. Both LEED(TM) schools had greater energy
savings and better visual comfort as compared to the non-LEED schools. However, the
water consumption savings and thermal comfort varied by school. Also, the LEED(TM)
Gold School didn’t exhibit higher energy and water consumption savings than the
LEED(TM) Silver School.
Description
Keywords
Daylight factor, Elementary school, Energy use intensity, Houston, Texas, Indoor comfort, LEED