Revamped LEED ratings emphasize climate, energy conservation

Greenwire, 19 November 2008 - 

The U.S. Green Building Council is remodeling its LEED rating system for buildings, giving greater weight to design elements that reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Member balloting concluded last week on the revised LEED 2009 standard, which incorporates more than eight years of feedback from architects, developers and building materials manufacturers. The Washington-based group's sister Green Building Certification Institute will begin vetting buildings using the revised Leadership in Energy & Design standard next spring. Developers and building owners who use LEED 2009 to certify new or remodeled buildings will still earn credit points for recycling construction materials, optimizing indoor air quality and reducing water consumption. However, a full 25 percent of the credits are now geared toward reducing the projects' carbon footprints, up from about 17 percent before, according to USGBC officials convening here this week for the annual Greenbuild conference.

Key changes to LEED include higher baseline requirements for reducing energy use, language that addresses mixed-use projects, and expanded options for using roof materials that reduce the urban heat-island effect. Developers may also earn certification points for building dense, transit-oriented projects with on-site renewable energy. "Climate and energy efficiency are now the top priority now from a LEED perspective," said Michelle Moore, USGBC's senior vice president for policy and public affairs. "Clearly, with buildings representing about 39 percent of U.S. emissions, putting carbon mitigation first makes sense."