According to the U.S. Department of Energy, generating electricity from fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil and coal negatively affect the environment throughout its life cycle. LEED’s solution in this chapter discusses efficient energy and refrigerant usage in buildings. This chapter also dives deeper into four topics: energy demand, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and outgoing energy performance. Energy and Atmosphere is a significant chapter, hence contains the most points one can receive in the rating system (33 points).

Noteworthy Standards

• ASHRAE 90.1
• Montreal Protocol
• Green-e renewable energy certification
• renewable energy certificates (RECs) or tradable renewable certificates (TRCs)