LEED Green Construction
60What is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)? LEED was developed by the U.S Green Building Council (USGBC), it is a set of standards used to construct environmentally sustainable buildings through design, physical construction and management of buildings and communities. LEED was created in 1998 and since then has grown immensely. There are over 14,000 LEED projects in the U.S. internationally abroad. (Green Building By The Numbers, USGBC). More than 10,000 membership organizations currently make up the USGBC. LEED is an open process where certain specifications proposed by committees are reviewed for acceptance by the organizations that currently make-up the USGBC.
Green Construction
There are several LEED rating systems. To review all of the rating systems would be beyond the scope of this paper. We will highlight one system in particular; The 2009 LEED Green Building Rating System for New Construction and Major Renovations.
The 2009 LEED Green Building Rating System for New Construction and Major Renovations is a set of standards that work towards certifying the design and building of commercial, institutional, high-rise and residential buildings of all sizes, both public and private. The rating system’s intention is to promote healthy, quality, affordable, and environmentally friendly practices in building design and construction (LEED 2009 for New Construction and major renovations).
The LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations covers 7 topics:
Sustainable Sites (SS)
Water Efficiency (WE)
Energy and Atmosphere (EA)
Materials and Resources (MR)
Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)
Innovation in Design (ID)
Regional Priority (RP)
LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations certifications are awarded according to the following
scale:
Certified 40–49 points
Silver 50–59 points
Gold 60–79 points
Platinum 80 points and above
All of the various rating systems in LEED are similar to the highlighted one above.
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is helping LEED.
Read about Building Information Modeling
