5.12.2008 - 06:00am ET

(CSRwire) Madison, May 12, 2008 - Leonardo Academy has announced the release of the White Paper: "The Economics of LEED for Existing Buildings for Individual Buildings," which summarizes a survey of buildings that have earned LEED-EB certification. The results show that there are many low cost and no cost sustainability actions for existing buildings, with the average cost of implementing LEED-EB at about $2.43 per square foot. The complete White Paper can be downloaded from the Leonardo Academy web site at: www.leonardoacademy.org.

Michael Arny, president of Leonardo Academy commented: "Implementation of LEED-EB is not only feasible from a cost standpoint, but the majority of cases resulted in ongoing building operation savings. For 64% of the LEED-EB buildings surveyed, total operating expenses per square foot are less than the BOMA average. The owners of these buildings are saving money on their annual operating costs and increasing the valuations of their buildings."

The Leonardo Academy survey was sent to all 53 buildings that had earned LEED-EB certification at the time of the survey distribution. Forty three percent of the certified buildings responded with supporting data gathered in 2006-2007. Building owners and LEED project managers were asked to indicate whether they found the measures needed to qualify for each LEED-EB prerequisite or credit to be "low or no cost" or "significant cost" measures.

Leonardo Academy intends to update this report annually. The addition of data from more buildings that have implemented LEED-EB will continue to increase the robustness of this economic analysis.

LEED for Existing Buildings - LEED-EB provides a framework for achieving green improvements in all existing commercial buildings. Buildings certified under the LEED-NC program can also continually improve environmental performance by seeking LEED-EB re-certification.

LEONARDO ACADEMY—Leonardo Academy (www.leonardoacademy.org) is a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing sustainability. Leonardo Academy is a Think and Do tank that develops new approaches, methods and metrics for sustainability and helps companies and organizations, buildings, events, families and individuals achieve sustainability. Leonardo Academy's Cleaner and Greener(R) Program supports the development and certification of emissions footprints and reduction and offset strategies. For greening buildings, Leonardo Academy supports implementation and certification under the LEED rating system. Leonardo Academy managed the LEED-EB pilot program for the USGBC from 2002-2004 and conducted all LEED-EB certification reviews for the USGBC from January 2002 through September 2006. Michael Arny, president of Leonardo Academy was the chair of the LEED-EB committee from 2001-2005.

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