Green Buildings Use More Energy In DC

While Washington DC has the highest number of green energy certified buildings, they also use more energy than their counterparts who are not green certified. This troubling statistic calls into question what it takes to make a building green energy certified. This also calls into question what people inside of these buildings believe they can do when they are in a place that is deemed to be more environmentally-friendly.

The EUI measure for building sustainability tells the story. Lower scores mean the buildings are using less energy. However, the green buildings in DC score at about 236 while non-certified buildings score at about 199. The concern is that these buildings that shell out money to get a green certification are just giving the city money for nothing and that the certification merely looks good.

Perhaps programs of the future will have stricter guidelines and better education for those inside the buildings.