The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has launched its Building Performance Initiative. It is an endeavor to collect data from all buildings that have been awarded with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The information will be analyzed toward furnishing building owners with accurate and meaningful advice to address such differences that arise between actual building performance against what was projected.

The proposal is pursuant to the earlier announced requirement that continuous performance data on buildings will have to be furnished as a pre–requisite to obtaining LEED certification. USGBC's initiative is path–breaking in the field of gathering building performance data toward attaining a feasible, holistic approach for better buildings of the future.

High performance ratings of a building is contingent on various factors, the biggest being the use of the building by people on a daily basis. Issues that are relevant are whether lights are turned off before leaving; whether water is left running in the sink or whether protocols are in place for facility managers to check automatic controls and their proper functioning. The existence of such issues that affect building performance are well known but not adequately addressed so far.

The USGBC's initiative expects to chalk out a national roadmap toward optimizing building performance using the skills of practitioners and leaders. Four conferences are scheduled to be held across the US where participants will have the opportunity to preview the proposed collection data agenda and proposed methodology of analysis. The conferences will also be a platform for collection of inputs for the greater vision.

The outcomes of these summits will be collated and presented during "Greenbuild" slated to be held in November in Phoenix.