How Energy Efficient Does a Building Have to be Before it's Considered Green? That's one of the questions that came up during an interview on high-performance buildings in this month's issue of Building Operating Management.

The truth is there's no easy answer to the question. For example, the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for New Construction system doesn’t specify. A building can be anywhere from 11 to 40 percent more efficient than ASHRAE 90.1-2004 and become LEED certified.

Get Moy, chairman of NIBS’ High-Performance Building Council suggested to me that a building that isn’t at least 30 percent more efficient than code isn’t truly a high-performance building because it can’t meet federal portfolio mandates that were enacted as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct).

But when the High-Performance Building Council met to develop a report on high-performance buildings for Congress this year, the group couldn't forge agreement on the issue. At least, not yet.

I'm curious where facility executives stand. What do you consider the starting point for energy efficiency when you're designing a green building?