Leadership in energy and environmental design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a globally recognized certification system for environmentally sustainable buildings, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 2000. LEED certification is voluntary and can be achieved by various types of projects, including residential homes, commercial buildings, and neighborhoods, through adherence to established energy and environmental standards. The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) oversees the certification process, ensuring consistency across certifications.
LEED offers several rating systems tailored to different project types, such as new construction, major renovations, and existing building operations. Projects can earn one of four certification levels—Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum—based on a point system that evaluates factors like site selection, water efficiency, energy use, indoor air quality, and materials sustainability. The program aims to reduce environmental impacts, lower operating costs, and enhance occupant health and well-being.
Globally, over 186 countries participate in LEED certification, with significant uptake in the United States, Canada, and India. The certification not only represents a commitment to sustainable practices but can also provide financial incentives, including tax rebates, fostering a broader acceptance of green building initiatives.
Subject Terms
Leadership in energy and environmental design
Summary: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification has emerged as an internationally recognized symbol of environmentally sustainable buildings. LEED certification provides energy, as well as environmental and financial benefits.
The US Green Building Council (USGBC), a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, DC, developed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in 2000. Voluntary LEED certification is achieved through meeting various energy and environmentally sustainable standards and is available to projects ranging from individual residences to commercial and professional buildings and neighborhoods. The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), a not-for-profit organization founded in 2008, oversees the LEED certification process to ensure consistency. The USGBC is comprised of approximately 15,000 organizations and companies, while the GBCI consists of various international certification organizations.
The USGBC developed LEED to encourage green building design and construction practices and to demonstrate their compatibility with lowered project and long-term building maintenance costs. LEED also demonstrates that green-building practices can reduce negative energy and other environmental impacts and can benefit the health of the building’s occupants. LEED committees developed the voluntary LEED rating system and certification process through consensus. LEED emerged first as the national standard for environmentally sustainable or green buildings in the United States. The program has since spread globally through agencies such as the Canada Green Building Council and the World Green Building Council.
LEED offers a variety of project types, certification levels, and ratings categories to provide flexibility and allow individual project managers to suit their site, goals, scope, and budget. Guidelines help projects in all phases, from planning to daily operations, to identify and utilize suitable green building practices. The USGBC also provides a variety of LEED and other green building resources, including listings of LEED-certified projects, a directory of LEED-accredited professionals, reference guides, workshops, online training opportunities, a calendar of industry conferences related to green building, and references to relevant publications from other industry and environmental groups.
Project Types
The USGBC and GBCI recommend that potential green building projects identify their interest in LEED certification and implement LEED assessment as early in the project development cycle as possible. Considerations include project goals and desired certification level. LEED is designed to ensure environmental sustainability throughout the building’s life, from design and construction to operations and maintenance. LEED even covers the energy and environmental education of the building’s future tenants.
LEED developed different ratings systems for a variety of new buildings and projects, including residential homes, neighborhood development, and commercial, school, retail, and healthcare buildings. LEED also has rating systems for major renovations and existing building operations and maintenance. Areas covered within each rating system include sustainable site location and development, water savings, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, materials and resource selection, and indoor environmental quality.
LEED provides an independent, third-party certification of a building’s environmental sustainability. The USGBC developed the original LEED certification process and is responsible for its ongoing development. LEED rating systems are categorized based on building or project type. The categories are: New Construction and Major Renovations (LEED-NC); Schools New Construction and Major Renovations, Core and Shell (LEED-CS); Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI); Healthcare (HC); Retail New Construction (LEED-Retail-NC); Retail Commercial Interiors (LEED-Retail-CI); Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND); Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EB); and Homes (LEED-H).
Certification Levels
LEED offers four possible certification levels within each project category: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum, with Certified the lowest level and Platinum the highest level. LEED Rating System Checklists are available for all eligible building types. The LEED certification process considers a variety of areas, awarding points in each category. The maximum number of points is 100, with an additional 10 bonus points also possible. The point totals for each category are weighted to reflect their environmental and human health priorities. The certification level earned by each project reflects the number of points awarded.
Sustainable Sites and Locations and Linkages evaluate site selection and development for environmental impact issues such as current land-use status, regional and environmental suitability and priority, proximity to local infrastructure and resources, ecosystem impact, and pollution potential. Materials and Resources promote sustainability throughout a material or resource’s lifecycle, as well as waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, and Indoor Environmental Quality encompass factors such as interior and exterior water usage; landscaping; appliances, fixtures, and lighting; energy efficiency design, practices, and monitoring; the use of renewable or clean energy sources; and indoor air quality.
Awareness and Education encourages building and real estate professionals to educate future building tenants on the building’s environmental features and their uses, as well as general sustainable living practices. Innovation in Design allows projects to earn up to 10 bonus points toward certification for innovation in areas not addressed elsewhere in the LEED certification process, for hiring LEED-Accredited Professionals, and through choosing projects that meet Regional Priority. Buildings that ultimately achieve LEED certification receive a plaque. An eligible project must complete all prerequisites and earn at least the minimum number of points required in order to achieve certification at any of the LEED rating levels.
Ratings Systems
A variety of professions use LEED ratings systems, certification processes, and educational resources, including architecture, real estate, engineering, interior design, landscape architecture, facilities maintenance, and construction. Governments and governmental agencies at the local, state, national, and international levels also use LEED in a variety of ways. Some require new government-owned or -funded buildings to meet LEED standards, have begun LEED initiatives, or offer incentives for LEED certification. According to statistics maintained by the USGBC and the GBCI, over 186 countries and territories across the globe are home to building projects seeking LEED certification, led by the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and India. The statistics also show a global LEED participation rate of nearly 9 billion square feet of building space.
LEED also offers various levels of accreditation to a variety of individual building industry professionals who have studied LEED standards and environmentally sustainable building best practices and have completed LEED examinations. Levels include LEED Fellow, LEED Green Associate, and LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP). Accredited individuals must undergo continuing education to maintain their accreditation.
LEED certification provides related energy, environmental, and financial benefits. Emphasis on energy efficiency and clean energy use reduces waste and greenhouse gas emissions while lowering operational costs. Utilization of LEED standards from a project’s outset results in a better functioning, more cost-conscious integrated approach to environmental sustainability of the building or neighborhood development project. LEED certification can be used as a hallmark of a company’s energy and environmental responsibility. Projects can also benefit from the tax rebates and other incentives offered for geen buildings at local and national levels.
Bibliography
Benjamin, Heather. "Net Zero at Greenbuild." Green Building Council Inc. 6 Aug. 2024, www.usgbc.org/articles/net-zero-greenbuild-2024. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.
"LEED Rating System." Green Building Council Inc. www.usgbc.org/leed/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.
Prada, Diego Felipe. "Biodiversity and Buildings: Our Relationship to Nature." Green Building Council Inc., www.usgbc.org/articles/biodiversity-and-buildings-our-relationship-nature7 Aug. 2024.