The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has opened the first public comment period on LEED 2009, which represents a reorganization of the existing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system for commercial buildings.
“Continuing to seek the right balance between technical advancement and market transformation was a driving force behind the LEED 2009 work,” says Scot Horst, chairman of the volunteer LEED Steering Committee, which leads the technical development of the LEED rating system. “The ‘big ideas’ we’ve proposed include transparent weightings of LEED credits so the highest-priority credits achieve the most points, a new mechanism for incorporating bioregional credits, and a more nimble framework that supports rapid response to emerging environmental and human health issues.”
Detailed information about specific proposed technical changes to the rating system can be found in the number of background documents that accompany the public comment forms on USGBC’s Web site. Further information about the expansion of the certification process and improvements to LEED Online as well as future technical improvements, including the integration of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) into LEED, will be forthcoming in late summer.
More information is available at www.usgbc.org.