When it comes to evaluating the sustainability of a commercial building, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is an increasingly more common tool. Created in 2000 by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the LEED rating system rates and measures buildings based on their sustainable performance. As the sustainable movement has rapidly evolved over the past few years, LEED is also changing. The latest rating system is called LEED 2009.
The USGBC reports that, “LEED 2009 incorporates eight years’ worth of market and user feedback in the form of precedent-setting Credit Interpretation Rulings, which will ensure clarity for project teams. Coupled with a credit alignment structure designed to create a more elegant and harmonized rating system, LEED 2009 will reset the bar for the certification of high-performance green buildings.”
LEED certification is granted on gold, silver and platinum levels and is awarded based on the total number of points earned within each LEED category, including sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design. The certification can be applied to all building types classified by the following: new construction, commercial interiors, core and shell developments, existing buildings, homes, neighborhood developments, schools and retail facilities.
The current LEED rating system has standard guidelines and was developed with the goal of providing a system that could grade all commercial buildings, no matter where they exist regionally. However, due to the many advancements in sustainability and changing concerns, this system needed to be updated. To keep pace with the necessary modifications, the USGBC introduced LEED 2009.
Though the overall structure to LEED will not change significantly, notable revisions are included in LEED 2009. One major revision is the scale of points on which a building is scored. The scale of points, originally set at 69, has been increased to 110, with 100 points possible and a potential 10 extra bonus points. Bonus points can be awarded for buildings that address regional environmental conditions with consideration of development density, community connectivity and public transportation access.
Along with the scale of points changing, the focus of the system has also been revised. According to the USGBC, the new system’s overall focus is on the building’s environmental, economical and social impact. The new system has also re-weighted credits, placing climate change and energy efficiency as a top priority and weighted them accordingly. Additionally, greenhouse gas emissions have been brought into the scoring system along with additional points being allocated for human health and the environment, both of which will be heavily weighted in the system. To account for future technological advancements, LEED 2009 will include a “pilot process” by which future technologies can become LEED credits after they have been evaluated and assessed through the process.
Overall, the new system has been reorganized to take into account factors such as regional location as well as increasing environmental concerns such as global climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. The structure is still very similar to the previous versions, but it is designed to allow for continuous improvements as the environment surrounding green
building changes.
Following two periods of public comment in 2008, the new LEED 2009 passed member ballot in November 2008 and was introduced in early 2009. LEED 2009 is one of the most significant changes to the rating system and sets the bar for certification of sustainable buildings of the future.
A more detailed description of LEED 2009 can be found at www.usgbc.org/leed2009.
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