LEED: Green Building Ratings

by Leslie S. Saul, IIDA, AIA, LEED AP

I have been asked frequently about how homes and commercial buildings get rated and certified, and who does the rating and certification for sustainability.

If you want to be green and you want your building to be certified as such, what do you do?

A variety of assessment programs have been developed around environmental and energy impacts of buildings. The first environmental certification system, the Building Research Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) was created in 1990 in the UK. In 1998, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) introduced the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system, based substantially on the BREEAM system. In 2005, the Green Building Initiative (GBI) launched Green Globes, by adapting the Canadian version of BREEAM and distributing it in the US market.

Program Similarities

LEED provides a guiding principle and assessment system for more sustainably designed buildings. The systems have more similarities than differences. Green Globes emphasizes its ease-of-use and integration of green principles and best-practices in every stage of the process, whereas LEED tends to emphasize its historical leadership and “consensus-based” process for the development of LEED standards.

LEED recently updated to version 3.0, which has a large number of points, incorporates more current practice knowledge, and also makes allowances for regional differences based on differing energy and environmental needs. For example, heat reflective glass is more highly valued in the south because cooling requirements are so important versus the emphasis on heating system efficiency in the north.

LEED certifies buildings as Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum. For homes certification, points are accumulated in eight categories:

  • Innovation & Design Process
  • Location & Linkages
  • Sustainable Sites
  • Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere
  • Materials & Resources
  • Indoor Environmental Quality
  • Awareness & Education

LEED’s goal is to guarantee minimum levels of sustainable practice through 18 prerequisites in the eight categories. There are a variety of points available so that with each project there are choices in how to accumulate points for certification. Also, a project that receives four out of six regional credits will earn an additional point toward LEED certification. The overall point system is weighted, but the rules are complex. A $100,000 energy management system will earn one point toward certification, but so would a $500 bicycle rack.

Program Differences

One of the biggest differences between the two rating systems is that any person involved in the project can apply for Green Globes, but only a LEED Accredited Professional (AP) can submit the application for LEED certification.

The test to become a LEED AP requires serious study of the LEED point system and the method for the certification application. There are now thousands of LEED AP's in the United States.

It bears noting that the Green Globes standards and ratings are no less legitimate than those of LEED; they simply haven’t enjoyed the same amount of publicity, in part because they are newer.

There is no question in my mind that the effort made by the USGBC to institutionalize their rating system has raised green awareness and energy conservation standards, and has improved green building methods for even non-certified buildings. 
 
Although some may disagree with specific choices made by the two rating systems, they have changed building. Contractors and their sub-contractors are no longer surprised when asked to sort their trash, coordinate rainwater irrigation, install photovoltaic panels or to super-insulate the walls and roof of a structure. Building for the future health of the planet has left the realm of environmentalists and become the mainstream approach for new construction.

The following Web sites have more information about each program:

USGBC/LEED: http://www.usgbc.org/

GBI/Green Globes: http://www.greenglobes.com/

If you have a question about building green, you can e-mail me at leslie@lesliesaul.com.

Leslie Saul has been a LEED AP and a member of the USGBC since 2004. Saul, in collaboration with designLAB architects, received three Boston Society of Architects awards, and two national honor awards from the American Institute of Architects, including a prestigious Committee on the Environment Award.

 

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