What is LEED?

The Following Topics Are Discussed On This Page:

USGBC LEED Description

“LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

LEED is flexible enough to apply to all building types – commercial as well as residential.It works throughout the building lifecycle – design and construction, operations and maintenance, tenant fitout, and significant retrofit. And LEED for Neighborhood Development extends the benefits of LEED beyond the building footprint into the neighborhood it serves.”

Why is LEED Important?

Just like any other area of complex modern society, standards are required to guide business/building owners, builders, contractors, managers, etc. to build, maintain, and operate environment enhancing and energy efficient residential, commercial, and institutional buildings here in the U.S., as well as worldwide.  The reduction in human environmental impact and reduction in energy use if all new and Existing buildings were built, maintained, and operated with the best environmentally-friendly and energy and water efficient technologies, procedures, and behaviors would significantly reduce or stop:

 

  • The threat of climate change disruptions
  • Our use of foreign oil, coal, natural gas
  • Environmental destruction and in many cases restore environments
  • Use of national and world resources, e.g., trees, metals
  • Reduce use of fresh water

The EPA makes it clear that the age of a building cannot be used to determine a building’s energy efficiency performance.  Building codes have not kept up with the increasing knowledge of how to build, maintain and operate more energy efficient buildings.  The only way to know if a building is operating efficiently is to measure and benchmark it, and, as importantly to stay engaged with sustainability learning to continuously reduce the environmental footprint of a building to net zero impact.

Does LEED Cost More?

No, green buildings do not have to cost a penny more. LEED certified projects to date demonstrate that
you can achieve LEED certification and reap its many benefits with a common-sense approach to design
with no additional dollars. Depending on your green building strategy and the level of certification your
project is targeting, there may be mid- and long-term ROI associated with additional green features that
merits an investment in first costs.

 

LEED Certification Types

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.

LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.”
Net Impact Orlando thinks of LEED in the following categories:

 

  • LEED for Homes=new home build projects
    • Note: LEED is not just for high end homes.  LEED homes are being built regularly for average and even low income homes.
  • LEED for Neighborhood Development=Rating System integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national system for neighborhood design. LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a development's location and design meet accepted high levels of environmentally responsible, sustainable development.
  • LEED for Core and Shell=warehouse-type new build projects
  • LEED for Interior Design=new suite and floor(s) build projects
  • LEED for Schools, Healthcare, Retail=new school, clinic, hospital, retail store build projects
  • LEED for New Construction=new business/commercial/real estate development and institutional (e.g., office building) build projects
  • LEED for Existing Buildings—Operations & Maintenance=is a retrofit or recommission project of existing/built assets (buildings that have been in operation for a year or more that don’t have LEED certification or lost their new build project LEED certification) that applies LEED technologies, processes, best practices, etc. to improve to the energy efficiency and environmental impact of the existing building.  Under this certification a warehouse (Core & Shell), an office building (New Construction), or a school (Schools, Healthcare, Retail) can do upgrades (retrofits) to achieve LEED certification for an existing building.  The best example of a project in Central Florida pursuing Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance for LEED Certification is the Orlando Science Center.

Although not shown in the diagram above, USGBC has a program called REGREEN Residential Remodeling Program, which  supports retrofitting or upgrading existing homes for improved energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact.   USGBC provides a best practices guide rather than a rating program or certification due to the unique aspects of residential remodeling.

At a cost, USGBC provides the following reference guides:

   

Who uses LEED?

Architects, real estate professionals, facility managers, engineers, interior designers, landscape architects, construction managers, lenders and government officials, as well as homeowners, all use LEED to build and transform buildings that are substantially more sustainable. 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.

 

How is LEED Developed?

LEED Rating Systems are developed through an open, consensus-based process led by LEED committees. Each volunteer committee is composed of a diverse group of practitioners and experts representing a cross-section of the building and construction industry. The key elements of USGBC's consensus process include a balanced and transparent committee structure, technical advisory groups that ensure scientific consistency and rigor, opportunities for stakeholder comment and review, member ballot of new rating systems, and a fair and open appeals process.

How Does LEED work?

LEED is a point based system where building projects earn LEED points for satisfying specific green
building criteria. Within each of the seven LEED credit categories, projects must satisfy particular
prerequisites and earn points.  The five categories include:

 

  • Sustainable Sites (SS)
  • Water Efficiency (WE)
  • Energy and Atmosphere (EA)
  • Materials and Resources (MR)
  • Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)

An additional category, Innovation in Design (ID), addresses sustainable building expertise as well as design measures not covered under the five environmental categories.   See ‘What LEED Measures” below.

Regional credits are another feature of LEED and acknowledge the importance of local conditions in determining best environmental design and construction practices. LEED projects will be able to earn “bonus points” for implementing green building strategies that address the important environmental issues facing their region. A project can be awarded as many as four extra points, one point each for achieving up to four of the six priority credits.

LEED Points

The number of points the project earns determines the level of LEED Certification the project receives. LEED certification is available in four progressive levels according to the following scale:

 

  • There are 100 base points, 6 possible Innovation in Design points, and 4 Regional Priority points:
    • Certified 40+ points
    • Silver 50+ points
    • Gold 60+ points
    • Platinum 80+ points
  • LEED point weighting allocates the points based on strategies that will have greater positive impacts on what matters most – energy efficiency and CO2 reductions. Each credit was evaluated against a list of 13 environmental impact categories, including climate change, indoor environmental quality, resource depletion and water intake, among many others.”

What is  LEED AP Certification?

Separate from project LEED certification, USGBC supports credentialing of LEED professionals.  The LEED AP program ensures that LEED professionals have the latest knowledge and understanding of green building practices and that they are recognized for distinction.   LEED AP is the most common certification, but the LEED Credentialing system includes three levels:

 

  • LEED Green Associate
  • LEED AP with specialty, e.g., Existing Building Operations and Maintenance
  • LEED Fellow

Like other professional accreditations, LEED credentials require maintenance to retain the credential.

Central Florida Change in LEED

Prior to the 2008 economic collapse, a lot of the LEED focus in Central Florida was on new commercial, institutional, and residential projects, i.e., new homes, new office buildings, new strip malls, etc.  After the economic collapse, new development stopped; probably a good thing.  The key focus of the US Department of Energy and the EPA is the built environment in the US, our existing buildings.  We hope to see this focus for LEED in Central Florida, i.e., real momentum for retrofitting homes, commercial and institutional buildings for LEED certification.  LEED technologies, practices are key elements of our journey to a sustainable Central Florida.

 

Some Misconceptions about LEED Building and Retrofits

  • Building to LEED Certification Standards is Too Expensive?
    • Per above, this is absolutely false. 
    • Environmentally friendly and renewable or recycled materials, processes, and personnel have become widely available at increasingly comparable cost to non-LEED supporting materials, processes, and personnel .  Depending on the level of certification sought and the trade-offs made for a specific project, even when a choice is made to incur additional, one- time costs for LEED certification, these costs are far outweighed by the long term benefits and cost savings, not to mention the competitive cost advantage.  Just a quick look at benefits:

Benefits

(the size of these annual benefits varies by size and type of building’ new versus retrofit, region of the country, energy and water costs, waste disposal costs, even something like whether an area has a LEED certified landfill.)

 

  • Decreased energy costs
  • Protection from increasing energy prices
  • Decreased water costs
  • Decreased maintenance and/or repair costs
  • Decreased material costs
  • Decreased cost of managing waste

Note: “McKinsey & Co. released a study last summer that estimates a $520 billion nationwide investment in basics like sealing leaky ducts and installing high-efficiency lights and equipment will yield savings of $1.2 trillion by 2020.  That’s a 100-plus percent return in 10 years. And McKinsey says the investment would create 675,000 new jobs.”

  • Decreased employee absence
  • Decreased workmen’s compensation
  • Improved employee productivity and engagement
  • Mitigation of risk whether weather, liability
  • Proactive implementation prior to government requirement, e.g., all new FL government buildings must now be built to LEED
  • Building to LEED Certification standards doesn’t impact the value of a property.  LEED certification has three significant property value impacts, i.e., higher resale values, occupancy rates and rents:
      •  “CoStar Group, a giant in real estate information, found in 2008 that LEED-certified buildings enjoyed higher occupancy than non-LEED buildings — 92 percent to 88 percent while Energy Star-rated buildings fetch rents one-third higher than non-Energy Star Buildings — $42 to $31 per square foot.”
  • Government, businesses, and the public don’t care about LEED.
    • Again, absolutely false.
    • More and more communities are requiring new buildings be built to LEED standards.  Big businesses and government are requiring their employees to green certified lodging, meeting space and use suppliers that can verify their commitment and action on sustainability.
  • LEED builds aren’t delivering on the promise of their energy efficiency and reducing their environmental impact?
    • This misconception is also absolutely false for LEED project certifications that maintain their energy efficiency and environmental focus after a project is certified, i.e., measure and manage the building’s performance and LEED characteristics.  Initially, there was an element of truth for 3 key reasons:
      • LEED is a new standard in an area that we are just beginning to move up the learning curve.  New standards take awhile to shake-out and get more and more robust.  Early LEED certifications didn’t require enough points in the energy efficiency area.  Annually, LEED certification is updated with new learning, new best practices, etc.  In addition, evaluation of projects after ribbon cutting was (and still is required) to ensure implementation and operation according to LEED specification and for the newer concepts.
      • Since the LEED initial focus was on new builds, attention to the proper maintenance and operation of the building after the build has not been sufficient.  LEED certification doesn’t end when a new building opens its doors.  To ensure the benefits, it requires ongoing measurement and management.  Building a LEED certified building will only deliver the results we desire if there are trained operations and maintenance personnel in place to drive the most out of the LEED features of the building and to inspire process and behavior change.  Even the direct staff using a specific space within the building need education on how to best use the LEED features of the space for the best indoor air quality and the least energy and water use, and environmental impact.  A great example of losing LEED benefits  is in a building designed around making the most of daylight for providing sufficient light (not the bright lighting we have become accustomed to) where employees are coached and reminded not to turn on lights out of habit.  How often have you walked into a conference room that has enough daylight or is using a PC projector and you turned on all the lights or some of the lights?
      • Learning on best practices, processes, materials for better building or retrofitting is happening daily.  This means that a LEED certified building one year versus the next year will get closer to the long term results we desire, zero net impact.

As the LEED emphasis has increased on continuous improvement and measurement, the promise of LEED is truly being realized.  Although LEED is being enhanced by new technologies, processes, and best practices almost daily, all the technologies to radically change theenvironmental impact of a new building, an interior design build-out, and existing buildings are widely available.

What LEED Measures

(from USGBC site)

LEED is a voluntary certification program that can be applied to any building type and any building lifecycle phase. It promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in key areas:

Sustainable Sites
Choosing a building's site and managing that site during construction are important considerations for a project’s sustainability. The Sustainable Sites category discourages development on previously undeveloped land; minimizes a building's impact on ecosystems and waterways; encourages regionally appropriate landscaping; rewards smart transportation choices; controls stormwater runoff; and reduces erosion, light pollution, heat island effect and construction-related pollution.

Water Efficiency 
Buildings are major users of our potable water supply. The goal of the Water Efficiency credit category is to encourage smarter use of water, inside and out. Water reduction is typically achieved through more efficient appliances, fixtures and fittings inside and water-wise landscaping outside.

Energy & Atmosphere 
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, buildings use 39% of the energy and 74% of the electricity produced each year in the United States. The Energy & Atmosphere category encourages a wide variety of energy strategies: commissioning; energy use monitoring; efficient design and construction; efficient appliances, systems and lighting; the use of renewable and clean sources of energy, generated on-site or off-site; and other innovative strategies.

Materials & Resources
During both the construction and operations phases, buildings generate a lot of waste and use a lot of materials and resources. This credit category encourages the selection of sustainably grown, harvested, produced and transported products and materials. It promotes the reduction of waste as well as reuse and recycling, and it takes into account the reduction of waste at a product’s source.

Indoor Environmental Quality 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans spend about 90% of their day indoors, where the air quality can be significantly worse than outside. The Indoor Environmental Quality credit category promotes strategies that can improve indoor air as well as providing access to natural daylight and views and improving acoustics.
Locations & Linkages
The LEED for Homes rating system recognizes that much of a home's impact on the environment comes from where it is located and how it fits into its community. The Locations & Linkages credits encourage homes being built away from environmentally sensitive places and instead being built in infill, previously developed and other preferable sites. It rewards homes that are built near already-existing infrastructure, community resources and transit, and it encourages access to open space for walking, physical activity and time spent outdoors.

Awareness & Education
The LEED for Homes rating system acknowledges that a green home is only truly green if the people who live in it use the green features to maximum effect. The Awareness & Education credits encourage home builders and real estate professionals to provide homeowners, tenants and building managers with the education and tools they need to understand what makes their home green and how to make the most of those features.
Innovation in Design
The Innovation in Design credit category provides bonus points for projects that use new and innovative technologies and strategies to improve a building’s performance well beyond what is required by other LEED credits or in green building considerations that are not specifically addressed elsewhere in LEED. This credit category also rewards projects for including a LEED Accredited Professional on the team to ensure a holistic, integrated approach to the design and construction phase.
Regional Priority
USGBC’s regional councils, chapters and affiliates have identified the environmental concerns that are locally most important for every region of the country, and six LEED credits that address those local priorities were selected for each region. A project that earns a regional priority credit will earn one bonus point in addition to any points awarded for that credit. Up to four extra points can be earned in this way. 

LEED Certification Rating Example

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LEED, go to www.usgbc.org!