The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. Since its inception in 1998, LEED has grown to encompass more than 14,000 projects in the United States and 30 countries covering 1.062 billion square feet (99 km²) of development area. The hallmark of LEED is that it is an open and transparent process where the technical criteria proposed by the LEED committees are publicly reviewed for approval by the more than 10,000 membership organizations that currently constitute the USGBC.
Individuals recognized for their knowledge of the LEED rating system are permitted to use the LEED Accredited Professional (AP) acronym after their name, indicating they have passed the accreditation exam given by the Green Building Certification Institute (a third-party organization that handles
The concept of LEED began in 1994 spearheaded by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) senior scientist Robert K. Watson who, as founding chairman of the LEED Steering Committee until 2006, led a broad-based consensus process which included non-profit organizations, government agencies, architects, engineers, developers, builders, product manufacturers and other industry leaders. Early LEED committee members also included USGBC co-founder Mike Italiano, architects Bill Reed and Sandy Mendler, builder Gerard Heiber and engineer Richard Bourne. As interest in LEED grew, in 1996, engineers Tom Paladino and Lynn Barker co-chaired the newly formed LEED technical committee.
From 1994 to 2006, LEED grew from one standard for new construction to a comprehensive system of six interrelated standards covering all aspects of the development and construction process. LEED also has grown from six volunteers on one committee to more than 200 volunteers on nearly 20 committees and nearly 150 professional staff.
LEED was created to accomplish the following:
Define "green building" by establishing a common standard of measurement
Promote integrated, whole-building design practices
Recognize environmental leadership in the building industry
Stimulate green competition
Raise consumer awareness of green building benefits
Transform the building market
Green Building Council members, representing every sector of the building industry, developed and continue to refine LEED. The rating system addresses six major areas:
Sustainable sites
Water efficiency
Energy and atmosphere
Materials and resources
Indoor environmental quality
Innovation and design process
Who uses LEED?
Architects, real estate professionals, facility managers, engineers, interior designers, landscape architects, construction managers, lenders and government officials all use LEED to help transform the built environment to sustainability. State and local governments across the country are adopting LEED for public-owned and public-funded buildings; there are LEED initiatives in federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Agriculture, Energy, and State; and LEED projects are in progress in 41 different countries, including Canada, Brazil, Mexico and India.
Why LEED?
Personal Rewards: A tiny investment in green construction can reward homebuilders with huge savings year after year:
Building "green" adds less than 2% to the average cost of a non-green house, and it can often cost the same.
The expected lifetime operating costs for a green building average 20% less than a non-green building.
LEED certified buildings are designed to use an average of 32% less electricity, 26% less natural gas and 36% less total energy than standard buildings.
Long-Term Benefits: If Americans want their children to enjoy a healthy, comfortable, and happy lifestyle, we must start building green. Traditional buildings use more energy, consume more natural resources, produce more waste, and generate more pollution than any other sector of our culture, including transportation and industry. According to the US Department of Energy, buildings are responsible for the following impact on the United States:
70% of the electricity we consume,
39% of our energy use (all types),
39% of our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions,
40% of our raw materials use,
30% of our waste output (136 million tons annually), and
12% of our potable water consumption
Don’t forget to check out our website at www.wfrpc.org/environmental-education for more “Think Green” ideas.
Have an excellent weekend!
Mary F. Gutierrez
Environmental Planner/BARC Staff
West Florida Regional Planning Council
P.O. Box 11399 Pensacola, FL 32524-1399
4081 E. Olive Rd, Suite A, Pensacola, FL 32514
Phone: (850) 332-7976 x 226 or 800-226-8914
Fax: (850) 637-1923
www.wfrpc.org
"The purpose in life is a life of purpose"
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