The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a nationally-accepted benchmark system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council that provides developers and cities with the necessary tools to design efficient buildings and help reduce their impact on the environment.
LEED-certified buildings have lower operating costs and higher asset value, conserve energy and water, and send less waste to landfills. LEED certification can be given to many different buildings across multiple construction types. LEED is used not only in commercial construction, but also in retail, residential, schools, neighborhoods, healthcare facilities as well as existing buildings.
The system is based on a number of credits developers gain by building to certain specifications.
They can receive credits in site selection, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, or innovation and design process.
Some of the reasons the LEED certification system is so successful are:
• Flexibility: Designers have the ability to pick and choose the credits that are easiest for them to obtain. Each building project focuses on a different aspect of green building that allows developers to receive credits in areas that work for them. If it is difficult to gain credits in one area, developers can choose to make up those credits in another area.
• Availability: LEED certification is available to a variety of building types, such as commercial interiors, residential, and existing structures, to name a few. The USGBC also has a LEED certified neighborhood development program, referred to as LEED ND.
• Grants and Subsidies: Local and federal governments offer a variety of grants and subsidies that can alleviate some of the financial stress associated with obtaining LEED certification.
Credits can be earned in a number of different ways depending on the building project. For example, commercial building standards are highly influenced by the “Indoor Environmental Quality” of the building, with 17 of the 57 possible points available in this subsection. Site plays a larger role for schools, which must meet completely different standards – 16 of the 79 possible points are related to a school’s site, and a school requires only 29 credits to become certified.