Research Projects

Buildings represent the second largest source of California's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when evaluating energy usage alone. Commercial buildings generated 10.8 percent of statewide GHG emissions in 2008. As California moves towards better quantifying greenhouse gas emissions reductions associated with energy efficiency improvements in buildings, research is needed to fully account for the GHG emissions reductions associated with related improvements in the water, waste, and transportation components of building projects. The Climate Change Scoping Plan states that further research is needed to quantify these additional GHG emission reductions of green buildings. The objective of this research is to develop a database of certified commercial green buildings in California that includes performance metrics to measure GHG emission reduction co-benefits due to water savings, waste reduction and minimized transportation impacts. This information will be useful in quantifying additional GHG emission reductions beyond energy savings in commercial buildings to assist with meeting the goals of Assembly Bill (AB) 32 and Executive Order # S-03-03.