LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council, it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes, and neighborhoods, which aims to help building owners and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently.
there were over 195,000 LEED-certified buildings and over 205,000 LEED-accredited professionals in 186 countries worldwide.
In the US, the District of Columbia consistently leads in LEED-certified square footage per capita, followed in 2022 by the top-ranking states of Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, California, and Maryland.
Outside the United States, the top-ranking countries for 2022 were Mainland China, India, Canada, Brazil, and Sweden.
LEED Canada has developed a separate rating system adapted to the Canadian climate and regulations.
Many U.S. federal agencies, state and local governments require or reward LEED certification., based on certified square feet per capita, the leading five states were Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, California, and Maryland. Incentives can include tax credits, zoning allowances, reduced fees, and expedited permitting. Offices, healthcare-, and education-related buildings are the most frequent LEED-certified buildings in the US, followed by warehouses, distribution centers, retail projects and multifamily dwellings.
Studies have found that for-rent LEED office spaces generally have higher rents and occupancy rates and lower capitalization rates.
LEED is a design tool rather than a performance-measurement tool and has tended to focus on energy modeling rather than actual energy consumption. It has been criticized for a point system that can lead to inappropriate design choices and the prioritization of LEED certification points over actual energy conservation; for lacking climate specificity; for not sufficiently addressing issues of climate change and extreme weather; and for not incorporating principles of a circular economy. Draft versions of LEED v5 were released for public comment in 2024, and the final version of LEED v5 is expected to appear in 2025. It may address some of the previous criticisms.
Despite concerns, LEED has been described as a "transformative force in the design and construction industry". LEED is credited with providing a framework for green building, expanding the use of green practices and products in buildings, encouraging sustainable forestry, and helping professionals to consider buildings in terms of the well-being of their occupants and as part of larger systems.
History
In April 1993, the U.S. Green Building Council was founded by Rick Fedrizzi, the head of environmental marketing at Carrier, real estate developer David Gottfried, and environmental lawyer Michael Italiano. Representatives from 60 firms and nonprofits met at the American Institute of Architects to discuss organizing within the building industry to support green building and develop a green building rating system.Also influential early on was architect Bob Berkebile.
File:PlantPic.jpg|thumb|Shearer's Foods plant in Massillon, Ohio, was the first food manufacturing plant to receive LEED Platinum status in 2009.
Fedrizzi served as the volunteer founding chair of USGBC from 1993 to 2004, and became its CEO as of 2004. As of November 4, 2016, he was succeeded as president and CEO of USGBC by Mahesh Ramanujam. Ramanujam served as CEO until 2021. Peter Templeton became interim president and CEO of USGBC as of November 1, 2021.
A key player in developing the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green certification program was Natural Resources Defense Council senior scientist Robert K. Watson. It was Watson, sometimes referred to as the "Founding Father of LEED", who created the acronym.
Over two decades, Watson led a broad-based consensus process, bringing together non-profit organizations, government agencies, architects, engineers, developers, builders, product manufacturers and other industry leaders. The original planning group consisted of Watson, Mike Italiano, architect Bill Reed, architect Sandy Mendler, builder Gerard Heiber and engineer Richard Bourne.
Tom Paladino and Lynne Barker co-chaired the LEED Pilot Committee from 1996–2001.
Scot Horst chaired the LEED Steering Committee beginning in 2005 and was deeply involved in the development of LEED 2009.
Joel Ann Todd took over as chair of the steering committee from 2009 to 2013, working to develop LEED v4, and introducing social equity credits.
Other steering committee chairs include Chris Schaffner and Jennifer Sanguinetti.
Chairs of the USGBC's Energy and Atmosphere Technical Advisory Group for LEED technology have included Gregory Kats.
The LEED initiative has been strongly supported by the USGBC Board of Directors, including
Chair of the Board of Directors Steven Winter. The current chair of the Board of Directors is Anyeley Hallová.
File:1812 North Moore and Rosslyn skyline.jpg|thumb|Arlington County, Virginia, was the first LEED Platinum community in the world in 2017. Pictured is 1812 N Moore, the tallest LEED Platinum building in the Washington metropolitan area as of 2013.
LEED has grown from one standard for new construction to a comprehensive system of interrelated standards covering aspects from the design and construction to the maintenance and operation of buildings. LEED has also grown from six committee volunteers to an organization of 122,626 volunteers, professionals and staff.
, more than 185,000 LEED projects representing over have been proposed worldwide, and more than 105,000 projects representing over have been certified in 185 countries.
However, lumber, chemical and plastics trade groups have lobbied to weaken the application of LEED guidelines in several southern states. In 2013, the states of Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi effectively banned the use of LEED in new public buildings, in favor of other industry standards that the USGBC considers too lax. LEED is considered a target of a type of disinformation attack known as astroturfing, involving "fake grassroots organizations usually sponsored by large corporations".
Unlike model building codes, such as the International Building Code, only members of the USGBC and specific "in-house" committees may add to, subtract from, or edit the standard, subject to an internal review process. Proposals to modify the LEED standards are offered and publicly reviewed by USGBC's member organizations, of which there were 4551 as of October 2023.
Rating systems
LEED has evolved since 1998 to more accurately represent and incorporate emerging green building technologies. LEED has developed building programs specific to new construction, core and shell, commercial interiors, existing buildings, neighborhood development, homes, retail, schools, and healthcare.The pilot version, LEED New Construction v1.0, led to LEED NCv2.0, LEED NCv2.2 in 2005, LEED 2009 in 2009, and LEED v4 in November 2013. LEED 2009 was depreciated for new projects registered from October 31, 2016. LEED v4.1 was released on April 2, 2019.
Draft versions of LEED v5 have been released and revised in response to public comment during 2024. The official final version of LEED v5 is expected to be released in 2025. Future updates to the standard are planned to occur every five years.
LEED forms the basis for other sustainability rating systems such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Labs21 and LEED Canada. The Australian Green Star is based on both LEED and the UK's Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology.
LEED v3 (2009)
LEED 2009 encompasses ten rating systems for the design, construction and operation of buildings, homes and neighborhoods. Five overarching categories correspond to the specialties available under the LEED professional program. That suite consists of:- Green building design and construction – for new construction, core and shell, schools, retail spaces, and healthcare facilities
- Green interior design and construction – for commercial and retail interiors
- Green building operations and maintenance
- Green neighborhood development
- Green home design and construction
Under LEED 2009, an evaluated project scores points to a possible maximum of 100 across six categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environment quality and design innovation. Each of these categories also includes mandatory requirements, which receive no points. Up to 10 additional points may be earned: 4 for regional priority credits and 6 for innovation in design. Additional performance categories for residences recognize the importance of transportation access, open space, and outdoor physical activity, and the need for buildings and settlements to educate occupants.
Buildings can qualify for four levels of certification:
- Certified: 40–49 points
- Silver: 50–59 points
- Gold: 60–79 points
- Platinum: 80 points and above
Prior to LEED 2009 evaluation and certification, a building must comply with minimum requirements including environmental laws and regulations, occupancy scenarios, building permanence and pre-rating completion, site boundaries and area-to-site ratios. Its owner must share data on the building's energy and water use for five years after occupancy or date of certification.
The credit weighting process has the following steps: First, a collection of reference buildings are assessed to estimate the environmental impacts of similar buildings. NIST weightings are then applied to judge the relative importance of these impacts in each category. Data regarding actual impacts on environmental and human health are then used to assign points to individual categories and measures. This system results in a weighted average for each rating scheme based upon actual impacts and the relative importance of those impacts to human health and environmental quality.
The LEED council also appears to have assigned credit and measured weighting based upon the market implications of point allocation.
From 2010, buildings can use carbon offsets to achieve green power credits for LEED-NC.