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December 8, 2008 - Green Building Council sets new LEED guidelines
Commercial builders around the country will soon be required to follow a new set of guidelines in order for their work to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The changes are being called the biggest thing to happen to the USGBC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification program since its inception eight years ago.
Dubbed LEED 2009, the new version of the group's green building certification program for commercial buildings has just been approved by USGBC members.
Plans are to roll out the latest version in March.
Changes include creation of a new uniform 100-point scale for various types of construction and the adoption of regional credits to account for important local issues such as waste conservation in the Southwest.
LEED 2009 also makes climate change and energy efficiency ``urgent priorities'' in the new system. Buildings account for about 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions, which have become a focal point for the USGBC.
By adding more emphasis to climate change and energy efficiency, that naturally means other areas such as recycling construction materials and use of recycled-content building materials will not be weighted as heavily in the new 100-point system when compared to the current approach.
"It fundamentally involves choices. And they are not easy choices," said Brendan Owens, vice president of LEED technical development at the USGBC.
LEED projects will still be recognized on one of our levels — certified, silver, gold and platinum — based on the number of points received. The higher the number of points achieved by utilizing environmentally friendly building standards, the higher the certification.
Projects achieving 40 points will be certified green buildings by the USGBC, and those with 50 points will be awarded silver certification. Those with 60 points gain gold level status and those with 80 points or more receive the highest honor, platinum certification.
"The way that you approach projects based on what's happened in LEED 2009 is fundamentally different, and that's something that is tremendously exciting," Owens said.
The USGBC studied the current individual LEED rating systems, which cover areas such as new construction, core and shell, commercial interiors, existing buildings and schools, to create the new LEED 2009 approach, which incorporates all of those areas under once umbrella. This new system aligns and harmonizes the credits for each type of construction, the USGBC said.
Plans are to update the LEED rating system every two years following adoption of LEED 2009. The cycle will include a year of technical development followed by a year of comments from USGBC members.
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Publication: Waste News
