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The LEED™ Green Building Rating Program
The Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Green Building Rating System or LEED™ was developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide a standard measure of green or sustainable design and to promote a market transformation towards more sustainable buildings. Prior to LEED™ there was no recognized standard for what qualified as green design. With the pilot project in 1998 and the release of the current version (Version 2.0) in March 2000, the USGBC has created the standard to measure green buildings.
LEED™ is a performance based rating program that sets minimum standards for green design and is a tool for designers of sustainable buildings. LEED™ is applicable to new construction and major renovation projects. It is most successfully applied to owner occupied whole building projects.
Projects seeking LEED™ certification are rated according to the number of credits they earn in six categories; Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Innovation & Design Process. Each category has up to three prerequisite requirements and optional credits that can be earned depending on the particular project. There are 69 total possible credits. The lowest rating is LEED™ Certified, which requires at least 26 points. Additional ratings are LEED™ Silver (33-38 points), LEED™ Gold (39-51 points) and LEED™ Platinum (52-69 points).
The Sustainable Sites category has 14 possible points. Compliance with EPA guidelines for site sediment and erosion control is a prerequisite. Credits include sustainable site selection, urban and brownfield redevelopment, alternative transportation, reduced site disturbance, stormwater management and heat island and light pollution reduction.
The Water Efficiency category has 5 possible points with credits for efficient landscape irrigation, innovative wastewater treatment and reducing the building water use. Strategies to earn these credits include rainwater harvesting, gray water use, low flow or no flow fixtures and fixture occupancy sensors.
The Energy & Atmosphere category has 17 points. Prerequisites include fundamental building commissioning, CFC reduction and minimum energy performance (meeting ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1-1999). Up to ten credits can be earned for optimizing building energy performance above and beyond the prerequisite. Additional credits are use of renewable energy such as photovoltaics, purchase of green power, elimination of HCFC refrigerants, additional commissioning and providing measurement and verification capability.
Materials & Resources has 13 possible points and includes the prerequisite that space be provided for storage and collection of recyclables. Credits can be earned for building reuse, construction waste management and the use of salvaged, recycled, local, rapidly renewable or certified wood materials.
The Indoor Environmental Quality category has 15 points. Prerequisites are providing control of environmental tobacco smoke and meeting the minimum requirements of ASHRAE 62-1999, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. Credits include increased ventilation effectiveness, construction IAQ management, use of low VOC emitting materials, chemical and pollution source control, thermal comfort, system controllability and daylight and views.
The final category is Innovation & Design Process. Up to four points can be earned for exceptional performance exceeding base LEED™ requirements or for innovative performance not addressed by the LEED™ rating system. A point can be earned if at least one principal member of the design team is a LEED™ Accredited Professional.
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