The Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building (Y2E2), home to the Stanford Woods Institute’s administrative offices, is in the running for performance-based certification under the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system for existing buildings: operations & maintenance (EBOM).

LEED-EBOM differs from other versions of the rating system because the certification relies on actual building performance, not design potential.

The project, made possible by generous donor funding and the leadership of senior faculty and administrators, will be coordinated through Stanford’s Office of Sustainability with support from Science and Engineering Quad (SEQ) facilities and operations. Arup, the design engineers for Y2E2 and the other SEQ buildings, will provide associated consulting services and engineering analysis.

The project duration is approximately one year. There will be a performance period from Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2012. During that period, Y2E2’s occupants can participate in the certification process by taking a building-specific commute mode survey and a building-specific thermal comfort survey.

During the course of the year, evaluators will look at a variety of factors including efficiency of electrical use and adherence to building waste disposal policies and university guidelines and policies for purchasing environmentally preferable products.

As the first LEED-EBOM certification project on campus, the Y2E2 experience will allow Stanford to evaluate the benefits of pursing formal certification as well as investigate further opportunities in the design and operation of high-performance buildings. The certification process aligns with the university’s overall sustainability evaluation and assessment programs and will benefit many upcoming projects, including the development of an internal building rating system.