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What is the LEED™
system? |
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The Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED·) rating system is a product
of the US Green Building Council (USGBC) a US, non-profit
organization with a broad-based industry membership formed in
1993 to "accelerate the adoption of green building practices,
technologies, policies, and standards." ECO-design.ca is a member of USGBC.
In 2003 the LEED rating system
was licensed to the newly formed Canadian Green Building Council,
of which ECO-design.ca is a member. The LEED rating system is
currently being refined into a Canadian version reflecting unique
Canadian standards.
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The currently available version
of LEED is specifically applicable to new designs and renovations
of:
new commercial buildings;
institutional
buildings; and
high-rise
residential buildings.
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| USGBC expects to
develop and release versions of LEED that deal with other types
of buildings (e.g., LEED residential for single family homes),
specific building situations (e.g., versions dealing separately
with 'core and shell' and 'commercial interior' projects), and
operations and maintenance of existing buildings. In fact, LEED
EB (existing buildings) is currently being pilot tested. |
| The
LEED· program continues to gain a significant presence
in the United States with many cities (e.g., Seattle and Portland),
States (e.g., California) and organizations (e.g., General Services
Administration, US Navy) having either already or in the process
of using it to evaluate the environmental performance of their
building portfolios. With cross-border work, Canadian design
professionals are constantly aware of the LEED system and the
increased need to have the knowledge and skills to meet client
demand for LEED certification. |
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LEEDTM has the following characteristics:
It is a self-assessment system the results of
which are submitted for independent certification by the USGBC.
It organizes
performance issues in five environmental categories, plus rewarding
innovative design strategies.
It uses
prerequisite performance requirements and credits to define
the scope of the environmental issues and the basis for scoring
performance.
It makes
explicit reference to a number of environmental standards.
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LEED consists of an explicit
set of environmental performance criteria, organized within six
(6) key performance categories:
Sustainable sites
Water Efficiency
Energy and Atmosphere
Materials and Resources
Indoor Environmental Quality
Innovation and Design
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The six LEED categories are organized
into
prerequisite requirements, which must be adhered
to in order to achieve LEED certification
credits, which are optional performance criteria
which any proposed project is measured against.
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Credits achieved earn a project
"points", with LEED certification granted at four achievement
levels:
LEED certification 26-32 points
LEED silver certification 33-38 points
LEED gold certification 39-51 points
LEED platinum certification, 52+ points
out of a theoretical maximum
of 69 points.
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