New guidelines issued today by the U.S. Green Building Council will "step up (the organization’s) commitment to improved building performance" by implementing a comprehensive data collection effort from all buildings that have achieved LEED certification; implementing an appropriate analysis methodology of that data; and providing feedback to building owners.

This initiative, dubbed the Building Performance Initiative, complements the announcement earlier this year that will require ongoing performance data from buildings as part of their certification under the latest version of LEED and beyond.

"This initiative is about gathering knowledge about building performance in a way no one has ever done before," said USGBC LEED Senior Vice President, Scot Horst. "The information that we collect from our certified projects is a workable, holistic approach for achieving better performing buildings."