What is LEED?
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is a third-party certification program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council that encourages and promotes sustainable green building practices through the achievement of established tools and performance criteria. LEED is a voluntary, consensus-based model that is a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
LEED is based on a point system in which a building can obtain a Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum level certification. Different versions have varied scoring systems based on project specific prerequisites and credits. Currently, there are nine versions of LEED certification: LEED for New Construction; LEED for Existing Buildings: Operation and Maintenance; LEED for Core and Shell; LEED for Commercial Interiors; LEED for Homes, LEED for Schools, LEED for Neighborhood Development; LEED for Retail; and LEED for Healthcare. Embedded in the rating system are six main categories: Site Selection (SS); Water Efficiency (WE); Energy & Atmosphere (EA); Materials & Resources (MR); Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ); and Innovation & Design Process (ID). LEED certification is obtained after submitting an application documenting compliance with the requirements of the rating system. Certification is granted solely by the U.S. Green Building Council.
LEED is helping to transform the marketplace by giving building owners, architects, engineers, consultants, designers, construction managers, and numerous other professionals the opportunity to speak a common universal language, in order to develop and practice a sustainable whole-building approach. Steven Winters Associates, Inc. performs planning, energy modeling, consulting, and documentation tasks to support project teams aiming to comply with LEED standards and certification.
Improving the built environment through research, sustainable design and technology. © 2008 Steven Winter Associates, Inc.