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New Rating System Resets the Bar for Green Building Performance |
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Written by Vector1Media
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Wednesday, 19 November 2008 |
PR - LEED 2009, the long-awaited update to the internationally recognized LEED green
building certification program, has passed member ballot, and will be introduced
in 2009 as the next major evolution of the existing LEED rating systems for
commercial buildings. It includes a series of major technical advancements
focused on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and
addressing other environmental and human health outcomes.
LEED 2009 will
also incorporate highly anticipated regional credits, extra points that have
been identified as priorities within a project’s given environmental zone. LEED
has also undergone a scientifically grounded re-weighting of credits, changing
allocation of points among LEED credits to reflect climate change and energy
efficiency as urgent priorities. This will be one of the most significant
changes to the rating system, and will increase the importance of green building
as a means of contributing immediate and measurable solutions toward energy
independence, climate change mitigation, and other global
priorities.
LEED 2009 incorporates eight years worth of market and user
feedback in the form of precedent-setting Credit Interpretation Rulings, which
will ensure clarity for project teams. Coupled with a credit alignment structure
designed to create a more elegant and harmonized rating system, LEED 2009 will
reset the bar for the certification of high-performance green buildings.
Process innovation in how new technical advancements are incorporated
into LEED will also be introduced alongside LEED 2009, including a “pilot
process” for individual credits that will allow major new technical developments
to be flexibly trialed, evaluated, and incorporated into LEED. “The conclusion
of the balloting process marks the culmination of tireless work done by
representatives from all corners of the building industry,” said Brendan Owens,
Vice President, LEED Technical Development, U.S. Green Building Council’s. “We
have the deepest gratitude for our volunteer leaders, and for their bold steps
towards resetting the bar for green building leadership and challenges the
industry to move faster and reach further.”
The first public comment
period for LEED 2009 opened in May 2008, followed by a second in late August.
USGBC had received nearly 7,000 comments from members and stakeholders at the
conclusion of the second public comment period on September 2. The final step is
the consensus development process for LEED 2009 was to be balloted for a
pass/fail vote among USGBC’s 18,000 member organizations. LEED 2009 successfully
passed member ballot on November 14. Detailed information about specific
proposed technical changes to the rating system can be found in the background
documents that accompany the public comment forms on USGBC’s Web site.
About USGBC 2 of 2 The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit
membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a
generation. Its membership includes corporations, builders, universities,
government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations. Since USGBC’s founding
in 1993, the Council has grown to more than 16,700 member companies and
organizations, a comprehensive family of LEED® green building certification
systems, an expansive educational offering, the industry’s popular Greenbuild
International Conference and Expo (www.greenbuildexpo.org), and a network of 79
local chapters, affiliates, and organizing groups.
For more information,
visit www.usgbc.org.
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Vector1Media |
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