The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has opened the first public comment period on LEED 2009, the next evolution of the LEED green building certification system.
LEED 2009 represents a reorganization of the existing LEED rating systems for commercial buildings, combined with a series of technical advancements focused on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and addressing other environmental and human health outcomes.
“Continuing to seek the right balance between technical advancement and market trans-
formation was a driving force behind the LEED 2009 work,” says Scot Horst, chairman of the volunteer LEED Steering Committee, which leads the technical development of the LEED rating system. “The ‘big ideas’ we’ve proposed include transparent weightings of LEED credits so the highest-priority credits achieve the most points, a new mechanism for incorporating bioregional credits and a more nimble framework that supports rapid response to emerging environmental and human health issues.”
The LEED green building rating system was developed by USGBC to drive market transformation in the building industry by defining a consensus metric for leadership in green building that forms a basis for continuous improvement. The evolution of LEED is based on technical, scientific and marketbased advancements.
LEED 2009 resets the bar for green building leadership because the urgency of the mission has challenged the industry to move faster and reach further.
Detailed information about specific proposed technical changes to the rating system can be found in the number of background documents that accompany the public comment forms on USGBC’s Web site, www.usgbc.org.
