21 Facts About LEED

1.

LEED Canada has developed a separate rating system adapted to the Canadian climate and regulations.

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2.

LEED is a design tool rather than a performance-measurement tool and focuses on energy modeling rather than actual energy consumption.

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3.

From 1994 to 2015, LEED grew from one standard for new construction to a comprehensive system of interrelated standards covering aspects from the design and construction to the maintenance and operation of buildings.

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4.

Proposals to modify the LEED standards are offered and publicly reviewed by USGBC's member organizations, which number almost 6660.

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5.

LEED has evolved since 1998 to more accurately represent and incorporate emerging green building technologies.

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6.

LEED 2009 encompasses ten rating systems for the design, construction and operation of buildings, homes and neighborhoods.

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7.

LEED v3 aligned credits across all LEED rating systems, weighted by environmental priority.

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8.

Aim of LEED 2009 is to allocate points "based on the potential environmental impacts and human benefits of each credit".

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9.

LEED council appears to have assigned credit and measured weighting based upon the market implications of point allocation.

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10.

Many buildings in Canada are LEED certified in part due to their rainwater harvesting practices.

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11.

LEED certification is granted by the Green Building Certification Institute, which arranges third-party verification of a project's compliance with the LEED requirements.

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12.

Innovation in LEED architecture is linked with new designs and high-quality construction.

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13.

Extreme structures that have received LEED certification include: Amorepacific Headquarters in Seoul by David Chipperfield Architects; Project: Brave New World: SFMOMA by Snøhetta in San Francisco, California; Project: UFO in a Sequinned Dress: Centro Botin in Santander by Renzo Piano; Building Workshop in Zusammenarbeit with Luis Vidal + Architects, in Santander, Spain; and Project: Vertical factory: Office building in London by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris in London.

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14.

LEED focuses on the design of the building and not on its actual energy consumption, and therefore it has been suggested that LEED buildings should be tracked to discover whether the potential energy savings from the design are being used in practice.

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15.

LEED-certified buildings are intended to use resources more efficiently when compared to conventional structures inspected only to mandatory building codes.

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16.

In progression toward this, from LEED's existing certifications, the Living Building Challenge is currently the most stringent sustainable design protocol.

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17.

LEED is a design tool and not a performance measurement tool.

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18.

Additionally, LEED is not energy-specific; it only measures overall performance, allowing builders to choose how to achieve points under various categories.

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19.

LEED has been developed and continuously modified by workers in the green building industry, especially in the ten largest metro areas in the U S ; however, LEED certified buildings have been slower to penetrate small and middle markets.

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20.

LEED standards have been criticized for not actually creating energy efficient buildings.

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21.

In 2013, The Washington Examiner analyzed energy efficiency data of New York City buildings and found that LEED-certified buildings actually performed worse than buildings in general.

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