Drivers of environmental performance among green buildings

As of May 2011, the number of BOMA BESt certified buildings have grown from 246 in 2008 to 1175 in May of 2011, and the number of LEED certified buildings from 133 in 2008 to 370 in May of 2011 (BOMA BESt, 2011; CaGBC, 2011). [...] The goal of this report is to explain the improvement in environmental performance, using drivers of operating costs such as climate, and the price of electricity or natural gas. [...] ISIS | Drivers of Environmental Performance Among Green Buildings | ISIS Research Centre | 10 4.0 DRIVERS OF OPERATING COSTS & ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE Before discussing the results of the study, the relationship between each potential driver of operating cost and the level of environmental performance is described below. [...] The potential drivers include: climate, the price of electricity, the change in the price of electricity over the past three years, and the price of natural gas. [...] To compare the level of certification to natural gas prices, the spot price of natural gas during the month of certification was used.