LEED-ing the way into a green future

Before this election and before global warming I can't remember one person talking about building codes, other than perhaps when my friends and I would gather to talk about our bad college landlords. But when global warming became climate change, and solar panels were more than coffee talk conversation tools, that's when I first started hearing about LEED certification on a regular basis, though its been around since 1998. The nonprofit organization, LEED, otherwise known as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, has a Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and it provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. LEED awards buildings points for satisfying specified green building criteria, within their six major environmental categories of review: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design.

Now LEED is reorganizing and reevaluating by way of its LEED 2009 program, an important evolution of the existing LEED rating systems for commercial buildings. It includes a series of technical advancements focused on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and addressing other environmental and human health outcomes.

The vote began last month, and final ballots from LEED members must be in by next Friday, November 14. While public comments were allowed, and played a strong role in how votes were cast, the forum closed in August. Now we can all watch in anticipation of the various changes LEED plans on implementing. Green building effects more than those who simply work in these buildings, building toward a greener future is something that effects all of us.

More info: www.usgbc.org