Green Building LEED
Introduction
What is LEED?
Benefits
Costs
Resources
Incentives
Glossary
The U.S. Green Building Council (http://www.usgbc.org), a nonprofit organization composed of leaders from all sectors of the building industry, works to promote "buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work." The USGBC developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system in 1999 and is the organization responsible for awarding LEED certification.
According to the USGBC website, the LEED Green Building Rating System™ is "the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings' performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality."
Specific LEED rating programs exist for the following:
- New Commercial Construction and Major Renovation projects
- Guidelines for Multiple Buildings and On-Campus Building Projects
- Existing Building Operations and Maintenance
- Commercial Interiors projects
- Core and Shell development projects
- Homes
- Neighborhood Development
- Schools
- Retail
- LEED for Health Care is currently under development.
In the LEED certification process, projects are awarded points according to achievements within certain sustainability categories. Depending on points achieved, projects are rated one of four levels of LEED Certification:
- Certified (26-32 points)
- Silver (33-38 points)
- Gold (39-51 points)
- Platinum (52-69 points)
These categories, and examples of points available within them, follow:
1. Sustainable Sites (14 possible points)
- Construction activity pollution prevention (required)
- Development density and community connectivity
- Brownfield redevelopment
- Public transportation access
- Bicycle storage and changing rooms
- Protect or restore habitat
- Stormwater design
2. Water Efficiency (5 possible points)
- Reduce landscaping water use by 50%
- Innovative wastewater technologies
- 20% or 30% water use reduction
3. Energy and Atmosphere (17 possible points)
- Minimum energy performance (required)
- Optimize energy performance (1-10 points available)
- On-site renewable energy
- Enhanced refrigerant management
- Green power
4. Materials & Resources (13 possible points)
- Storage and collection of recyclables (required)
- Building reuse (maintain 75% or 95% of existing walls, floors, & roof)
- Construction waste management (divert 50% or 75% from disposal)
- Materials reuse (5% or 10%)
- Regional materials (10% or 20% extracted, processed and manufactured regionally)
- Certified wood
5. Indoor Environmental Quality (15 possible points)
- Minimum Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) performance (required)
- Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) control (required)
- Increased ventilation
- Low-emitting materials (e.g. adhesives & sealants; paints & coatings; carpet systems)
- Indoor chemical and pollutant source control
- Controllability of systems (lighting and thermal comfort)
6. Innovation & Design Process (5 possible points)
- Four points available for innovation in design
- LEED Accredited Professional
For a complete listing and details of the point system, please visit https://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=1095.