May 8, 2003 (Portland, Ore.) — Green Tags, or Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs) from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), give green building advocates a simple and meaningful way to earn LEED certification points for their projects. Green Tags, which represent the environmental attributes (such as displaced CO2 emissions) of renewable energy, can be used to earn one point under Credit 6, Green Power, of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. According to the US Green Building Council (USGBC), Green-e certified TRCs purchased to represent 50% of a building’s electricity consumption during the first two years of operation may be used to earn a LEED point. A total of 26 points must be earned in various categories for a building to gain the minimum LEED certification level.

“Green Tags are a simple way to earn a point,” says Amee Quiriconi, of Tiger Mountain Consulting, Issaquah, Wash., a sustainable building consultant working with Eastside Fire and Rescue to gain LEED certification for its new Issaquah Highlands Fire Station. The project represents the first use of BEF Green Tags in a green building project certification.

Each BEF Green Tag represents the environmental benefits of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy. In North America today, coal and natural gas-fired plants are the principal source of electricity, and the biggest share of new generation under construction. Green Tags from wind and solar facilities offer an alternative and a simple way for builders and consumers alike to support environmentally preferred forms of electricity. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the displacement of fossil-fueled electricity from each BEF Green Tag results in of an average reduction of 1,380 pounds of CO2 emissions.

BEF Green Tags represent one of the easiest LEED points to earn. BEF can help a building developer calculate expected energy use for the building, and then it’s a simple matter of purchasing enough Green Tags to offset half of it. “It’s easy to earn, but it’s not necessarily inexpensive,” says Quiriconi. That, she explains, is because, unlike many other green building options, Green Tags do not offer any long-term cost savings to the building owner. On the other hand, the single, simple transaction means there is no need to hire engineers, or approve additional fees for someone to make design changes. “BEF Green Tags represent a very real and important environmental benefit,”says Quiriconi. “When it comes down to it, that’s why we’re practicing green building in the first place, right?”

BEF Green Tags may also be eligible to help earn additional points under LEED’s Innovation & Design Process Credit. This category represents a catchall that encourages green building designers to be innovative in their approach, thus stimulating development of new ways to be more environmentally friendly. As example, Quiriconi has applied for credit for additional BEF Green Tags that were purchased to offset a larger portion of the overall carbon emissions associated with the building, including those generated from running the station’s gas-powered HVAC system and diesel powered fire and rescue vehicles.

“The fact is, BEF Green Tags make sense even if a building owner is not seeking LEED certification, but just wants to do the right thing,” Quiriconi says.

Indeed, with fewer than 100 LEED-certified buildings in existence, there is theoretically a huge amount of green building happening that for whatever reason has not registered for LEED. In an effort to encourage all “green” developers to consider Green Tags among their options, BEF helps to publicize projects that purchase BEF Green Tags. “We’ll provide certificates and letters of commendation for display in a building lobby, as well as making announcements to the local and trade media,” says BEF marketing program manager Patrick Nye. “We’ll also see to it that a purchaser gains national recognition through the EPA’s Green Power Partnership.”

BEF Green Tags represent an exceptionally meaningful green building option because significantly more of the revenue generated from their sale stimulates the development of additional new renewable electricity production facilities. Like other TRC marketers, BEF uses a portion of each sale to cover the cost difference between the renewable energy represented by the Green Tag and the cost of commodity electricity. In addition, because BEF is the only non-profit organization marketing TRCs, they commit additional funds to reinvestment into the renewable infrastructure. This reinvestment, beyond what it costs to purchase the Green Tags themselves, is used to support new development of solar or wind-powered facilities.

Since 2000, when the non-profit first began selling Green Tags, BEF has helped fund the development of 15 new renewable energy projects and 10 watershed restoration projects for a combined commitment of over $1 million in grants and investments. In addition, BEF’s Green Tag sales have supported the development of four new wind energy projects with a combined capacity of over 400 megawatts. BEF Green Tag sales have directly resulted in displacing more than 125,000 tons of CO2 that otherwise would have been emitted into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming. This is the equivalent displacement value of planting some 50,000 acres of trees.

“Our long-term goal is to entirely displace fossil-fueled energy plants,” proclaims Angus Duncan, BEF President. “But we — and our customers — can only be successful if we encourage ongoing development of renewable alternatives, and that can only happen if we support projects that are truly displacing coal, gas and other forms of polluting energy.”

It’s an uphill battle; one that green building advocates are familiar with. Fossil fuel-powered electricity generation continues to have the lowest up front development costs, if one looks only at dollars. “That’s because economics doesn’t account well for environmental impacts,” says Duncan. Nor do up front costs include the price volatility of fossil fuels, and the impacts of that volatility on businesses needing predictability in their costs. On the other hand operating costs are very stable, once a solar or wind powered facility is built, the sunlight or breeze needed to keep it going is free. “In the long run, renewable options are economically as well as environmentally superior,” Duncan explains. “But, unfortunately, today’s capital markets don’t take the long run into account.”

The higher start-up costs for a renewable energy facility account for the higher costs of green power in today’s commodity electricity market. BEF’s Green Tags represent a purchaser’s willingness to absorb a portion of those near-term higher costs in order to encourage more renewable energy development.

About Green Tags
Green Tags are certificates that represent the environmental benefits from a specific amount of electricity from a wind turbine, solar panel or other renewable energy source. When non-polluting energy displaces energy produced from burning fossil fuels, there is a corresponding savings in greenhouse gases (primarily carbon dioxide) that is captured as the Green Tag.

BEF's Green Tags are certified by Green-e (www.green-e.org) and designated Climate Cool by the Climate Neutral Network as having a net zero impact on the climate while also displacing fossil fuel generated electricity and approximately 1,400 pounds of C02 emissions per Green Tag (www.climateneutral.com). The new renewable energy resources that produce BEF's Green Tags are certified by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Renewable Northwest Project and the Northwest Energy Coalition.

About BEF
The Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a current member of the US Green Building Council, was established in 1998 to further the development and use of new renewable energy resources. Through revenues generated from the sales of green power products, BEF funds projects that restore damaged watersheds and develop new renewable energy resources (including solar, wind and biomass energy). BEF pioneered the sale of Green Tags in 1999 and has helped establish national standards for certification and trading. Created by regional environmental groups and the Bonneville Power Administration, the Foundation operates collaboratively but independent of both.

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