Home & Developments
Explaining LEED
In 1994 the National Resources Defense Council set out to provide a universal set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. A team led by senior scientist Robert Watson created a system called, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Today the LEED program is managed and awarded by the Green Building Council.
The LEED system was created to accomplish the following:
- Define "green building" by establishing a common standard of measurement
- Promote integrated, whole-building design practices
- Recognize environmental leadership in the building industry
- Stimulate green competition
- Raise consumer awareness of green building benefits
- Transform the building market
It's safe to say that LEED has had a substantial impact on building efforts over the course of its first 15 years and even safer to say that the impact will continue to grow over the course of the next few years. Since its inception, LEED has encompassed more than 14,000 projects in all 50 states.
There are four levels of LEED certification that a project can be awarded. They are :
Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Reaching each level requires a project to earn more "credits" by meeting stricter building and environmental standards.
The major categories of standards include:
- Sustainable Sites
- Water Efficiency
- Energy and atmosphere
- Materials and Resources
- Indoor environmental quality
- Innovation and design process
While we at Green Housing Developments.com recognize the importance of LEED, it is worth noting that applying for LEED certification is not a mandatory step that the builder has to take. Some builders prefer to avoid fees involved in LEED certification and spend the money saved building an even more sustainable structure. Others feel that the program, which is standard across the country, may not recognize the most important environmental benefits for that region. For that reason, we feature many developments on our site that are not LEED certified.
In the future, it's safe to expect LEED to take even more steps to increase the efficiency of homes. Some changes that we expect to the LEED program include; making the program more specific to different climates, and more strongly rewarding the use of sustainable energy resources (instead of just rewarding the decreased use of fossil fuels).
Other "Green" Programs
The National Association of Homebuilders has created a program called "NAHBGreen". The program is similar to LEED in that it has a scoring tool, national certification and industry training. www.nahbgreen.org
Several states and local governments have begun to reward structures that have reached a minimum level of LEED Certified. For more on those states, please see the article States that are promoting green developments.
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