DI Library: Sustainable Building Rating Systems: LEED

What is LEED?

LEED
LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a certification program that recognizes sustainable design and construction. The program is run by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
What is LEED?
This article from Green Building Elements provides a concise overview of what LEED is and how projects earn LEED certification.

What types of projects can be certified under LEED?

There are several different LEED rating systems for different types of projects.

Building Design + Construction (BD+C)
Building Design + Construction (BD+C) applies to commercial buildings of at least 1,000 square feet that are being newly constructed or undergoing a major renovation.
Interior Design + Construction (ID+C)
Interior Design + Construction (ID+C) applies to commercial projects of at least 250 square feet that are complete interior fit-outs.
Building Operations + Maintenance (O+M)
Building Operations + Maintenance (O+M) applies to existing commercial buildings of at least 1,000 square feet undergoing improvement or minor renovations.
Homes
Homes applies to new single-family homes and multi-family housing of up to six stories that are defined as “dwelling units” by all applicable codes.
Neighborhood Development (ND)
Neighborhood Development(ND) applies to new development or redevelopment projects, which can be commercial, residential, or mixed-use, that include at least 2 habitable buildings and are no larger than 1,500 acres.

How do projects achieve certification?

A project must meet all the LEED Prerequisites to achieve certification. For LEED v4, a building must be in a permanent location on existing land, must use reasonable boundaries to evaluate the project, and must meet the size requirements for the appropriate LEED rating system.

Each LEED rating system is made up of credit categories such as water efficiency, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and sustainable sites. A project can earn LEED credits in each category, and the total number of credits earned determines the level of certification.

A project must earn a minimum number of credits to be LEED Certified at all, and additional credits will earn the project a LEED Silver, LEED Gold, or LEED Platinum Certification.

How does a project earn LEED credits?

There are nine categories in which a project can earn LEED credits:

Integrative Process credits
Integrative Process credits are awarded for cross-discipline collaboration in the design process.
Location & Transportation credits
Location & Transportation credits are awarded for access to transit, sensitive land protection, surrounding density, bicycle facilities, reduced parking, and other issues related to site selection and transportation.
Materials & Resources credits
Materials & Resources credits are awarded for reducing waste and using materials that have published life cycle assessments and environmental product declarations.
Water Efficiency credits
Water Efficiency credits are awarded for reducing use and increasing reuse of water, inside the building as well as in the outdoor landscaping.
Energy & Atmosphere credits
Energy & Atmosphere credits are awarded for energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy.
Sustainable Sites credits
Sustainable Sites credits are awarded for protecting natural habitat, keeping open spaces, dealing with rainwater, and reducing light pollution and heat island effects.
Indoor Environment credits
Indoor Environment credits are awarded for using building materials and products without harmful chemicals, and for providing access to fresh air, natural light and views of the outdoors.
Innovation credits
Innovation credits are awarded for innovations in green building, either by using a strategy not included in LEED or by achieving exemplary performance with an existing LEED strategy.
Regional Priority credits
Regional Priority credits are awarded for projects that meet existing prerequisites or credits in the rating system that have been selected by USGBC Chapters and Regions as especially important in their area.
You can find all of the available LEED credits on the USGBC website.
Select the appropriate rating system at the top of the page, and then search for a particular credit or browse the list by category.

Sustainable Building Rating Systems

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What is LEED?

What types of projects can be certified under LEED?

How do projects achieve certification?

How does a project earn LEED credits?

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