LEED the way

Many companies and products like to mention that they are green, but what does that mean?  LEED is a quantifiable measure by which buildings are evaluated to determine their level of “green-ness”.  Many different categories have been devised and weighted based on the environmental impact.  An environmentally responsible company is not only leading the global initiative, but can also receive benefits by way of tax breaks and zoning benefits for carefully considering their environmental impact.

Sounds great, but what is measured and how?  The process starts by working with a LEED Professional and devising what the goals are.  There are four levels to LEED:  LEED Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.  The scale is based on 100 points, 110 are possible.  Each level must meet a threshold of points.  The points are across many different categories like materials and resources. 

Many times LEED is a goal that new construction building has while they are building.  Each component going into the building is carefully considered.  A LEED Professional would monitor the building process and give the final grade when construction was complete. 

Existing building can also pursue LEED Certification.  A hotel, for instance, could switch their shower heads to low flow units to conserve water and earn points towards becoming LEED Certified.  A water tank could be switched out for a tank-less unit to ensure energy is not being wasted.  Appliances could be switch for Energy Star rated units that use less resources to operate. 

The goal with LEED is to be able to quantify steps taken to be more environmentally friendly.  Once the steps have been taken and measured, the building would then pass along incentives for incurring any additional cost during the process.

New buildings constructed by the United States Government will pursue LEED certification.  This allows for construction techniques to be developed and shared with other buildings to help further cut cost for others that follow suit. 

The first step of LEED Certification is to contact a LEED professional to begin planning for what level you wish to achieve and how you wish to get there.  Each building or building project should be individually evaluated to consider what would be the most efficient and cost friendly way to achieve the desired level of certification.  Each building will have different hurdles and methods to gain the accreditation.  Click hereto contact a LEED professional and take the first step and to begin devising a plan for your building.