New LEED® Version Approved

WASHINGTON – The much-debated revision to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) rating system for sustainable building will finally go into effect later this year.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced yesterday that its membership voted to adopt LEED v4, with a full program rollout at the next Greenbuild conference and expo this November.  

Click image to enlargeThe final overall vote was 86% in favor of adoption, including a 90% nod from the group’s user category. The general-interest sector voted 77% in favor, with 89% approval from the producer category.

The minimum overall percentage of votes needed for passage was 66.7%.

Changes in the LEED system involve public-comment periods, followed by a member ballot; the last major revision (LEED 2009) won approval in November 2008. The latest round of changes became an arduous journey that led to a year-long extension of the process.

Originally titled LEED 2012, the revision met with member concerns, including the ability to quickly develop a new building-certification process and introducing major changes in a down real-estate market. USGBC moved the original voting period last year from June to August, and then to this year as the revision went through five public-comment periods. (The previous change, LEED 2009, went through two.)   

“This update of LEED builds on the past while offering new requirements, preparing all LEED projects to achieve higher levels of building performance and positive environmental outcomes,” said Scot Horst, senior vice president of LEED, USGBC. “This newest version of LEED challenges the market to make the next leap toward better, cleaner, healthier buildings. I am confident that people will also notice the improved usability of the system with an improved documentation process and more resources and tools to assist and support positive action.”
 
Starting this summer, USGBC will offer education on LEED v4 in the form of webinar suites, and the full program, along with reference guides, will be unveiled at this year’s Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in Philadelphia on Nov 20-22.

Currently, there are more 100 projects pursuing certification through the LEED v4 beta program. With projects currently in the review phase, some will certify as early as this summer.

Nearly 54,000 projects worldwide are currently participating in the commercial and institutional LEED rating systems, comprising 9.7 billion square feet of construction space in more than 140 countries and territories. In addition, nearly 40,000 residential units have been certified under the LEED for Homes rating system, with more than 100,000 more homes registered.

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