Guidance on Calculating
Points in EA 1 for
Mid-rise Pilot Projects in Canada
Applicable ONLY with Multifamily Mid-rise Guidelines 2010 Version
The following guidance is designed to accompany the LEED for Homes Multifamily Mid-Rise
Guidelines – as published in October 2010. Canadian buildings are subject to all of the
conditions and scope requirements highlighted in that document, as well as all prerequisites and
credit requirements, except as noted below. A separate document is available projects using
Version 1.1 (August 2008) of the Mid-rise Pilot Guidelines.
Canadian projects may choose either of two methods for meeting the prerequisite and credits in
EA 1:
1. Conduct a whole building simulation using the Building Performance Rating Method
in Appendix G of ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007. All of the requirements and
guidance in the LEED for Homes Multifamily Mid-rise Guidelines must be followed.
Additional Simulation Guidelines provided by the US EPA must also be followed.
Contact Asa Foss (afoss@usgbc.org) at the US Green Building Council for more
information.
2. Conduct a whole building simulation to demonstrate a minimum performance
improvement over the Model National Energy Code for Buildings 1997 (MNECB). In
this case, all buildings must be modeled as new construction and the reference
building must follow Canada’s ecoEnergy (formally the Commercial Building
Incentive Program) requirements. The minimum requirements and point distribution
is provided below.
There is no prescriptive compliance path allowed.
Using the MNECB
The energy analysis done for the building performance rating method must include all of the
energy costs associated with the building project. To achieve points, the proposed design must
meet the following criteria:

Compliance with the mandatory provisions of the MNECB 1997.

Inclusion of all the energy costs within and associated with the building project.

Whole-building project simulation must follow the procedures defined in MNECB 1997
and the LEED Canada Energy Modelling Rules, which include the following:
o Model National Energy Code for Buildings (MNECB), 1997
o Performance Compliance for Buildings, Specifications for Calculation Procedures
for Demonstrating Compliance to the Model National Energy Code for Buildings
Using Whole Building Performance, May 1999
o ecoEnergy EE4 Software Modelling Guide
o LEED Canada 2009 Supplementary Energy Modelling Guidelines
U.S. Green Building Council
October, 2010

Both the proposed and baseline building must be modeled as new construction, even if
the project is an existing building renovation.

Comparison against a baseline building that complies with the reference building
requirements as defined in the MNECB 1997, with the accompanying ecoEnergy
(formally CBIP) requirements.
The following additional modeling guidelines apply:

Process energy is considered to include, but is not limited to, office and general
miscellaneous equipment, computers, elevators and escalators, kitchen cooking and
refrigeration, laundry washing and drying, lighting exempt from the lighting power
allowance (e.g. lighting integral to medical equipment) and other (e.g. waterfall pumps).

Regulated (non-process) energy includes lighting (e.g. for the interior, parking garage,
surface parking, façade, or building grounds, etc. except as noted above), heating,
ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) (e.g., for space heating, space cooling, fans,
pumps, toilet exhaust, parking garage ventilation, kitchen hood exhaust, humidification,
etc.), and service water heating for domestic or space heating purposes.

Process loads must be identical for both the baseline building performance rating and for
the proposed building performance rating. However, project teams may follow the
exceptional calculation method (ANSI / ASHRAE / IESNA 90.1-2007 G2.5) or the LEED
Canada Energy Modelling Rules to document measures that reduce process loads.
Documentation of process load energy savings must include a list of the assumptions
made for both the base and proposed design, and theoretical or empirical information
supporting these assumptions.
LEED for Homes Multifamily Mid-rise Energy Prerequisite
Projects using the MNECB building performance rating method must demonstrate at least a
25% cost improvement in the proposed building performance rating.
LEED for Homes Multifamily Mid-rise Energy Improvement
Points may be awarded in the credit EA 1.3 by demonstrating at least 26% energy cost savings,
as per Table 1 below.
U.S. Green Building Council
October, 2010
Table 1 – Canadian projects
Percentage cost
improvement
Points in EA 1.3 for
LEED for Homes
Multifamily Mid-rise
2010
26%
27%
28%
29%
30%
31%
32%
33%
34%
35%
36%
37%
38%
39%
40%
41%
42%
43%
44%
45%
46%
47%
48%
49%
50%
51%
52%
53%
54%
55%
0.5
1.5
2.5
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.5
8.5
9.5
11.0
12.0
13.0
14.5
15.5
16.5
18.0
19.0
20.0
21.5
22.5
23.5
25.0
26.0
27.5
28.5
29.5
31.0
32.0
33.0
34.0
U.S. Green Building Council
October, 2010