USGBC Requests Comments on New LEED Draft

Based on the strong response to my posting earlier this month entitled “Is LEED No Longer in the Lead?”We’ve decided to run a series entitled "Visioning Green Buildings." The series will explore the current state of the art in green buildings as well as examining some of the standards old and new. The series will include articles about green building elements such as furniture, materials and their impact on indoor air quality, sustainable land development and the role of green buildings as elements of green communities, as well as alternative green building standards. We’re also hoping to hear something from USGBC. We still have some open slots available, so if you have something you’d like to write about on this topic; please feel free to leave a comment below.

This might be a good place and time to mention that the first public comment period for the next version of the LEED rating system is closing on Friday 1/14/11.

"The next version of LEED will be an update and expansion of the technical content from LEED 2009. Your comments help to ensure that LEED continues to be at the vanguard of innovative design construction and operation of buildings and communities. It is expected to be released in late 2012." The USGBC strongly encourages all stakeholders to participate in this process. Comments are welcome for all LEED systems including the Building Design & Construction, which includes: New Construction & Major Renovations, Core & Shell, Schools, Retail, Data Centers, Warehouse & Distribution Centers, and Hospitality; Interior Design & Construction, which includes: Commercial Interiors, Retail, and Hospitality; and Operations & Maintenance, which includes Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance, Schools, Retail, Data Centers, and Hospitality. Comments are also welcome for LEED for Neighborhood Development, and LEED for Homes.

Some of the features of the new draft include:

• A bicycle storage prerequisite and a reduced automobile use credit.


• A walkable streets credit


• Revised Rainwater management, heat island reduction and light pollution reduction credits


• Landscape and appliance use reduction prerequisites


• The optimize energy performance credit now is based on a combination of energy cost and source Energy Use Intensity.


• New demand response credit


• Recycled content prerequisite and credit


• New low-emitting interiors credit


• New lighting credit and overhauled daylight credit


• New water metering and reporting prerequisite


• New integrated process credit.

This revision may well address some of the concerns raised in the previous post. Anyone interested in sustainability criteria for green buildings is encouraged to take a look at these proposed revisions and submit whatever comments you might have.

RP Siegel is the co-author of the eco-thriller Vapor Trails.  Like airplanes, we all leave behind a vapor trail. And though we can easily see others’, we rarely see our own.

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