GO LEED! Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a "No-Brainer"

As stated in a previous essay (on Paradigms4Progress.com), I do believe our world has gone slightly mad, and that it is an act of courage to read the daily news. Having stated that however, I also believe we live in an incredible time in human history, a time of potential transformation on the scale of the scientific revolution. The factors driving this transformation are many to include climate change, peak oil and water shortages. I have come to believe that underlying these factors is humanity's disconnect to our ultimate relatedness to and reliance on one another and nature.

Consequently, the solutions we generate to respond to the numerous crises that we face together must seek to both heal our battered earth to avoid catastrophes in our times and develop more harmonious ways of living in the world at every level of society to protect quality of life potential for future generations.

While national political leadership and policy are desperately needed there are market solutions emerging that hold great promise. One such solution is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED.



LEED is a third party, Green Building Council, certification program and a benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.

According to the Wikipedia entry on the topic, LEED began in 1994 under the direction a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) senior scientist Robert K. Watson who, as founding chairman of the LEED Steering Committee until 2006, led a broad-based consensus process which included non-profit organizations, government agencies, architects, engineers, developers, builders, product manufacturers and other industry leaders.

Over the years, LEED grew from one standard for new construction to a comprehensive system of five interrelated performance areas of human and environmental health to include:

1) Sustainable site development

2) Water savings

3) Energy efficiency

4) Material selection and indoor air quality

5) Indoor air quality

These performance areas are uniquely applied to several different types of construction projects to produce tailored rating systems for certain types of projects or sectors. For example, presently there are rating systems for new construction, existing buildings, governmental interiors, core & shell, schools, retail, healthcare, homes, and neighborhood development.

While LEED is gaining traction as the industry green building standard, it is interesting to note that the organization has announced that as of January 2009 it will no longer certify buildings. That responsibility will pass to independent, accredited certifiers overseen by USGBC's sister nonprofit corporation, the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). GBCI has administered the LEED Accredited Professional (LEED-AP) program since January 2008 (see Environmental News Network for full article).

According to this news article, this move is necessary to meet the growing demand for LEED certification. Growing demand for green buildings is GREAT news as it represents the type of movement we must make to address our environmental and energy challenges while shifting toward sustainability.

If you are involved in the building of a new structure or renovation of an existing one, I invite you to go GREEN by becoming LEED certified. The benefits to do so are extensive to include greater overall resource efficiency and healthier buildings. In addition, initial investments are quickly recovered then yield interest over the life of the building. According to Wikipedia,"studies have suggested that an initial up front investment of 2% will yield over ten times the initial investment over the life cycle of the building!" Wow. It is simply the right thing to do too! Sounds like a "no- brainer" to me!

Essay by Denise Frizzell. For more musings from Denise, visit, www.paradigms4progress.com.