The U.S. Green Building Council has released the LEED regional
credits as part of LEED 2009, the new version of the LEED Green Building Rating
System. These LEED credits encourage that specific regional environmental
priorities be addressed when it comes to the design, construction and
operations of buildings in different geographic locations.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released the LEED regional
credits as part of LEED 2009, the new version of the LEED Green Building Rating
System. These LEED credits encourage that specific regional environmental
priorities be addressed when it comes to the design, construction and
operations of buildings in different geographic locations.
“Because environmental priorities differ among various regions of the country -
the challenges in the Southeast differ from those in the Northwest, for example
- regionally specific credits give LEED a way to directly respond to diverse,
regionally grounded issues,” said Brendan Owens, Vice President of Technical
Development, USGBC. “The inclusion of these regional LEED credits is the
Council’s first step toward addressing regional environmental issues.”
With the help of USGBC’s regional councils, chapters and affiliates, credits
addressing six specific environmental issues within a region were identified
from among the existing LEED credits. In LEED 2009, LEED projects will be able
to earn “bonus points” for implementing green building strategies that address
the important environmental issues facing their region. A project can be
awarded as many as four extra points, one point each for achieving up to four
of the six priority credits.
LEED 2009 is one of the three major components that make up LEED Version 3, the
next version of the LEED green building certification program, which launched
April 27, 2009. The changes to the LEED rating system reflect the rapid
advancements in building science and technology, and provides incentives for
strategies that have greater positive impacts on energy efficiency and CO2 emissions
reductions, among other priorities.
The other components of LEED v3 include a faster, smarter and easier-to-use
LEED Online, the tool for managing the LEED registration and certification
process; and a new building certification model administered by the Green
Building Certification Institute through a network of internationally
recognized independent ISO-accredited certification bodies. To learn more about
LEED v3 and to download a region-by-region list of priority credits, visitwww.usgbc.org/leed2009.