The US General Services Administration (GSA) is seeking public comments on a recommendation regarding green building rating systems. GSA may abandon their prior endorsement of a single rating system and encourage each federal agency to decide to use LEED, Green … Continue reading →

The USGBC announced that the last step in the development process of LEED v4 is one final public comment period, open March 1 – March 31, 2013. The comment period will focus on refinement (both in the credit language and … Continue reading →

A long-awaited report from the National Research Council gives the nod to LEED Silver ratings “or equivalent” for military buildings. The report looked at a variety of methods of comparing costs and benefits and ultimately confirmed that LEED Silver certification … Continue reading →

A new search engine called the Green Building Information Gateway (GBIG) has been created to provide design, performance and related sustainability data for thousands of green buildings.  The tool is being offered by the USGBC.  Initially the tool was based … Continue reading →

The USGBC partnered with investment analysis FTSE and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts  to create new indices for sources of capital for millions of square feet of building stock. The new indices will allow real estate investment … Continue reading →

The USGBC has launched an online database of buildings called the Green Building Information Gateway or GBIG.  The tool allows users to find green buildings around the world by entering an address, view green building data by city, find all … Continue reading →

Up until recently, the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certificate was the go-to standard for green buildings. Now a new certification – Green Globes – is sharing the stage, at least in some parts … Continue reading →

A new search engine, the Green Building Information Gateway (gbig.org) was launched at the GREENBUILD show in San Francisco.  GBIG aggregates and assesses design and performance data for thousands of buildings worldwide, collected under the LEED rating system. The site … Continue reading →

According to a new study from Harvard Business School titled “Public Procurement and the Private Supply of Green Buildings”, cities requiring LEED certification for municipal buildings between 2001 and 2008 saw 2.3 private sector LEED registrations per year, on average, … Continue reading →

At the recent GREENBUILD conference, the Health Product Declaration Open Standard Version 1 was introduced.  The HPD standardized format is for disclosure of product contents, emissions and health information to help designers, specifiers and building owners and occupants make informed … Continue reading →

Thirty North American cities and counties will participate in a year-long USGBC pilot program to evaluate and test the first national rating system for community sustainability. The program was announced on Nov 14 at the USGBC Greenbuild conference in San … Continue reading →

The U.S. Green Building Council recently announced that it anticipates substantial revisions to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, a set of nationally recognized green building guidelines for new construction. If approved in 2013, the new LEED … Continue reading →

USGBC announced that the fifth public comment period for LEED v.4 will open on October 2, 2012 and close on December 10.  During the upcoming Greenbuild conference in San Francisco, many aspects of the proposed changes to the LEED program … Continue reading →

The American High-Performance Buildings Coalition (AHPBC) was formed in the midst of the fourth public comment period of the LEED 2012 draft.  The Coalition is encouraging members of Congress to urge the GSA to suspend their use of LEED unless … Continue reading →

According to figures released by the USGBC and McGraw Hill Construction, more than 20,000 homes in the US have achieved certification through LEED for Homes since the program’s launch in 2008.  Nearly 80,000 homes are currently registered and working toward … Continue reading →

According to figures released by the USGBC and McGraw Hill Construction, more than 20,000 homes in the US have achieved certification through LEED for Homes since the program’s launch in 2008.  Nearly 80,000 homes are currently registered and working toward … Continue reading →

According to the USGBC, the total footprint of commercial real estate certified under the LEED green building program has now exceeded two billion square feet.. In addition, there is seven billion square feet in the pipeline around the globe. This … Continue reading →

USGBC announced that the ballot on LEED 2012 will now be delayed until June 1, 2013, (or potentially sooner in 2013)   In a statement from President Rick Fedrizzi, the delay was justified to allow USGBC to deliver on the infrastructural … Continue reading →

A fifth public comment period will open on October 2, 2012 and run through December 10, 2013.  This extra public comment period is being done to coincide with Greenbuild in November where there will be public forums and educational sessions … Continue reading →

USGBC will ensure that LEED 2009 will remain available for registration for three years.   USGBC will also continue to ask for the market’s assistance in “test driving” the fourth public comment draft. This test will give USGBC important insight to … Continue reading →

The fourth draft of LEED 2012 was released for public comment on May 11 and will close on May 28.  USGBC remains on a schedule to begin balloting the final draft from June 1 to 30.  Thousands of comments from … Continue reading →

The draft of LEED 2012 will open for a 4th public comment on May 1. The draft of LEED 2012 will incorporate final technical revisions based on public comment feedback, and will incorporate credit requirements that have been positively impacted … Continue reading →

A study by the USGBC Center for Green Schools and McGraw Hill Research Foundation showed a link between green building strategies and student and teacher performance within green schools.  A white paper titled “The Impact of School Buildings on Student … Continue reading →

Congress passed a defense budget preventing the Department of Defense from spending money to achieve LEED gold or platinum certification.  However, the Pentagon reports that it may still end up constructing buildings to those standards.  The military aims for LEED … Continue reading →

The deadline for comments on the 3rd public comment LEED 2012 draft was March 20.  USGBC is expected to launch the new version of LEED in the fall of 2012

The U.S. Green Building Council, in conjunction with The Home Depot, has launched an online products database at www.leed.homedepot.com that features products geared toward residential green building and that may contribute to points and prerequisites for the LEED for Homes … Continue reading →

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released its 2011 list of the Top 10 states for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita, based on the U.S. 2010 Census information. The District of Columbia leads the nation, with more … Continue reading →

The USGBC announced the following milestones and success stories for 2011: 3,500 commercial and 5,400 residential projects were LEED certified with cumulative totals exceeding 11,000 and 14,600, respectively. 31,800 commercial and 61,500 residential projects were registered. More than 125,000 projects … Continue reading →

The USGBC has launched App Lab, an online catalog of third-party applications (or apps) that are integrated with LEED data.  The lab currently has eight applications developed by LEED Automation program partners.

The Materials and Resources section of LEED 2012 will include an increased focus on product life-cycle-assessment (LCA), according to the USGBC.  A second new MR credit will reward the use of products including materials for which Environmental Product Declarations have … Continue reading →

The USGBC has conducted a study on the creation and status of more than 400 state legislative bills that promote energy efficiency and sustainable construction. The study found that many legislative bills are never passed. However, in many cases, green … Continue reading →

USGBC has opened the second public comment period for the proposed 2012 update to the LEED green building rating system. The comment period, which will close on September 14, 2011, is the next step in the continuous improvement process and … Continue reading →

To meet the specialized needs of hospitals and long-term care facilities, GBI has launched a new healthcare module of its environmental assessment and certification tool, Green Globes™ for Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings (CIEB). Known as Green Globes CIEB Healthcare, … Continue reading →

Under a new pilot credit, manufacturers whose qualified products have been reviewed through the UL Environment Environmental Claims Validation, Sustainable Product Certification, Environmental Product Declaration or Terrachoice EcoLogo programs will qualify for Points in the Innovation Credit within the LEED … Continue reading →

The USGBC has released the 2010 list of the top states for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita with some surprising results. Though California, Texas, and New York are the top three states ranked by total number of … Continue reading →

The first public comment period for proposed updates to LEED rating systems closed on January 14, 2011. The second round of public comments will run from July 1 through August 15, 2011.  The projected release of the revised LEED requirements … Continue reading →

The USGBC announced the foundation of The Center for Green Schools at USGBC.  The initiative will work toward the goal of “greening” existing and new school buildings within our generation. More information is available at www.centerforgreenschools.org/welcome.aspx.

A team of Pittsburgh engineers and architects, led by University of Pittsburgh engineering professor Melissa Bilec, will be researching methodologies that can be applied to conducting Life Cycle Assessment of newly constructed buildings.  The work will be funded by a … Continue reading →

The public comment draft of the next version of LEED is a general update and expansion of the technical content and organization of LEED. By simultaneously aligning and harmonizing inefficient duplication of LEED credits and expanding the bookshelf to include … Continue reading →

A new report sponsored by USGBC and Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University suggests that energy reduction tax incentives for green remodeling proved promising for growth in the residential real estate market. Energy consumption per square foot of … Continue reading →

LEED for Neighborhood Development has been launched to encourage development within or near existing communities and/or public infrastructure in order to reduce the environmental impacts of sprawl.  The new rating system was developed in cooperation with USGBC, Natural Resources Defense … Continue reading →

A new report from the USGBC describes more than 30 federal programs worth $72 billion that could improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings and multi-family housing.    The report suggests that the federal government is not utilizing these programs to their … Continue reading →

The Green Building Initiative (GBI) announced the completion of the first and only commercial green building rating system to become an American National Standard through consensus development. The new standard is referred to as ANSI/GBI 01-2010: Green Building Assessment Protocol … Continue reading →

The USGBC and the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities program launched the “Green Building for Cool Cities” collaboration. The partnership allows the 80 USGBC chapters to encourage local governments to adopt policies that support new and retrofitted energy efficient buildings.  The … Continue reading →

A US Green Building Council study by Booz Allen Hamilton suggests that green building will support 7.9 million US jobs and create $554 billion into the American economy through 2013.  the study determined that green construction spending currently supports more … Continue reading →

The USGBC has launched their LEED Pilot Credit Library, a new tool that will add to the flexibility of the continuous improvement process for LEED. The Pilot Credit concept allows the LEED program to introduce new ideas without having to … Continue reading →

Energy Ace, an Atlanta based consulting firm, is now offering a money back guarantee that their clients will become LEED certified when the company supervises administration, fundamental commissioning and energy modeling to meet LEED standards. If a refund is granted … Continue reading →

The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) launched a credentialing maintenance program (CMP) for LEED APs and Green Associates in August. The new program will ensure  that LEED professional credentials will remain relevant and meaningful in a rapidly evolving marketplace. “Since … Continue reading →

Faced with growing concerns that LEED buildings are not performing as predicted by energy modeling, the USGBC is now requiring that all newly constructed buildings provide energy and water bills for the first five years of operation as a condition … Continue reading →

The LEED 2009 rating program now requires Minimum Project Requirements (MPR). The most significant aspect of the MPR is one that requires owners of all certified projects to provide energy and water use data to USGBC for five years from … Continue reading →

BuildingGreen has announced a new web-based tool called LEEDuser to assit users of LEED 2009. The website diagrams key aspects of each prerequisite and credit in the five recently launched rating systems in LEED 2009. Checklists, tips and suggestions on … Continue reading →

The USGBC is partnering with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) to create the Climate Positive Development Program.  This will support the development of large-scale urban projects that demonstrate cities can grow in ways that are “climate positive”.  The real estate … Continue reading →

The second public comment period for LEED for Neighborhood Development is open though Sunday June 14 at 11:59 pm (PDT).

New projects wishing to register under LEED v2.2 or any other earlier version than LEED 2009 must do so by 11:59 pm PDT on Friday June 26, 2009. Starting June 27, all new projects must register under a LEED 2009 … Continue reading →

The USGBC has released the LEED regional credits as part of LEED 2009, the new version of the LEED Green Building Rating System. These LEED credits encourage that specific regional environmental priorities be addressed when it comes to the design, … Continue reading →

The next version of LEED, known as LEED v3, will launch on April 27, 2009. This new version has three main components: • LEED 2009 – the actual technical rating/certification system • A more user-friendly, reliable and faster LEED online … Continue reading →

A state representative from Michigan has introduced a bill that would allow local governments to implement LEED requirements, which go beyond state code regulations.  The proposed legislation is House Bill 4775, introduced by Rep. Kate Ebli. It would give local … Continue reading →

There are over 65,000 LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED APs). These individuals are recognized as experts on the LEED Rating System.  In November 2008 the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), which administers the LEED AP credential, announced an overhaul in the … Continue reading →

Toolkit The U.S. Green Building Council now has a state and local government Toolkit online which outlines key steps in achieving policy changes. The Toolkit includes a section that explains why such policies should consider incorporating LEED requirements. Stimulus Package … Continue reading →

At Greenbuild 2008 the USGBC unveiled the new LEED 2009 program. This new version of LEED will take into account many of the different LEED systems to date and puts them into one LEED program. USGBC is using a concept … Continue reading →