What is LEED®?

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) green building rating system, developed and maintained by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.

LEED is a third-party certification program administered by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings' performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

LEED certification has become a competitive necessity for class A and other premium projects, and for mission driven organizations.

All LEED programs type have four levels of certification: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum, based on points earned in five categories of environmental performance:

• Sustainable Sites
  Assesses site related issues, including planting and landscaping, transportation, water emissions, soil erosion and ecological impact.

• Water Efficiency
  Looks at water efficiency, wastewater innovations, discharge water compliance and water use reduction.

• Energy & Atmosphere
  Takes into account building commissioning, energy performance standards, renewable energy, building operations, maintenance and measurement.

• Materials & Resources
  Examines recycling and source reduction, toxics reduction, hazardous waste, construction and demolition recycling and environmentally preferable purchasing.

• Indoor Environmental Quality
  Reviews outside air, asbestos and PCBs, ventilation and monitoring, indoor pollutants, and thermal comfort, amongst other initiatives.