Momentum is building behind energy-efficiency programs throughout the Midwest thanks to emerging government mandates and rising popularity of building certifications like LEED® and Energy Star. This mounting enthusiasm for energy efficiency comes with growing pains as the desire to implement it can outpace the ability of the region’s building designers, installation contractors, efficiency program managers, and building owners to understand it and correctly apply it.
Not only are energy-efficiency implementation mistakes being made, but these mistakes are being adopted as common practice and slipping past overseeing groups, such as the USGBC. In 2009, the USGBC realized that 53% of buildings it certified through 2006 were not achieving Energy Star label status, based on measured energy consumption.