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The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. It's a rating system recognizing a building or a community for developing high performance buildings by implementing green strategies and technologies into the design and construction of the project. There are four levels of certification awarded depending on the number of points achieved:
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Certification level |
Possible # of points |
Certification
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40 - 49 |
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Silver |
50 - 59 |
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Gold |
60 - 79 |
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Platinum |
80 - above |
In order to be awarded one of the following certification a building must earn enough credits set forth in each level with Platinum being the highest achievement. These credits are earned by implementing strategies and technologies before and during construction to improve water and energy efficiency, reducing CO2 emissions, improving indoor air (environmental) quality, and lessening the impact on natural resources and land.
It was created by the United States Green Building Coucil (USGBC) and administered by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), both recognized internationally for developing the rating systems and their commitment towards sustainability. USGBC developed it and GBCI provides third party certification for green projects and professional credential maintenance for LEED Accredited Professionals (people with green building knowledge and practices).
What started out as just one rating system (New Construction 1.0) now has evolved into eight different ones focusing on other areas of real estate such as a building's operations and maintenance, building's core & shell, green homes, green schools, commercial interiors, neighborhood development, retail, and health care.
We will touch only on LEED New Construction (NC) Version 3 and the number of points needed as shown in the above table. LEED NC V.3 has seven components:
4. Materials & Resources (MR)
5. Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)
6. Innovation in Design (ID)
7. Regional Priority -- recently added
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© Project Green Resource 2010 - 2011 All rights reserved
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LEED Credits
