LEED basics explained

Before we get into the intricacies and dissect what LEED is, what it stands for and how can we benefit by using it, let me start with a bit of a personal spin.

Architects are here to make the right decisions, or to make sure that the decisions are made by competent people. In order to do that, we have to know a lot! Not that we have to know everything, but we need to know something about everything.

That’s why I am always perplexed when I encounter other professionals who completely ignore certain aspects of the industry. I could list many examples, but for the sake of today’s theme, I would like to emphasize that I encountered many people completely oblivious to sustainability as a general concept and green building certification.

That is completely mind-blowing that some of these concepts just flew past some of us and we never even consider them.

I probably know a bit more about LEED than the next guy, or at least I should since I became accredited. However, all the information in this article is the core I believe everybody in the AEC industry should know. Doesnt matter if you are an architect, engineer, developer or contractor, we all work on built environment together and in order to have the conversation, we need to know the basics.

What is LEED

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a green building certification system. By using LEED framework, we can get a third-party verification that our design promotes the best available practices and strategies across the world.

LEED promotes built environment that enhances the community, complements the environment and mitigates unneceasary waste of resources, both for construction and maintenance alike.

And even though true sustainability goes far beyond any certification system following the LEED principles builts a solid foundation for any project.

What projects can be certified

LEED is a flexible framework that can be applied to wide range of projects; commercial, residential and entire neighbourhood communities.

It also works throughout the building lifecycle – design and construction, operations and maintenance, interiors, and major reconstructions.

There are four primary LEED Rating Systems

-LEED Building Design and Construction (BD+C)

-LEED for Interior Design and Construction (ID+C)

-LEED for Building Operations and Maintenance (O+M)

-LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND)

Each of these categories contains subcategories of building types.

Structure of the system

LEED rating system is based on prerequisites and credits. Prerequisits are considered as a baseline. Every project has to achieve those to be certified. Credits are addtitional criteria which influence the final level of certification.

Prerequisits and credits are organized into groups based on the following broad concepts.

Energy and atmosphere

This group of credits is important in order to address the energy use of a project. It promotes energy-efficient design strategies and use of renewable resources. First, we have to limit the amount of energy that is required and secondly, we need to take the energy that we still need from renewable sources.

Indoor environmental quality

Indoor Environmental Quality category rewards us for decisions that positively impact thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort. Green buildings should protect the health and comfort of its users as well as increase their productivity and satisfaction. This category addresses factors such as lighting quality, acoustic design and level of control over our surroundings.

Innovation

Innovation is a category that ensures that LEED is always moving further and improving upon new discoveries. There you can find special credits that are being tested and might be involved into later versions of LEED systems. You can also be awarded extra credits for exceptional performance beyond the scope of credits in their respective categories.

Integrative process

In order to deliver top quality projects, it is neccesary to properly colaborate and coordinate efforts of many professionals. That is where Integrated Design Process comes in. We each have our strengths and we have to utilise them effectively and empower the whole project team. There are no winners and losers in the building industry, if we can deliver great project, everybody get their piece of the cake.

Location and transport

This group of credits is all about carefully locating the project before it can even start being designed. We have to ask ourselves, where will it be most advantageous to build. There is an insane amount of resources already in place all around the world and we need to capitalize on our previous efforts.

This category thus rewards building near existing infrastructure, compact development, access to transit, alternative transportation and connection to existing amenities.

Materials and resources

This category is all about minimizing the embodied energy and other impacts associated with production, transportation and disposal of building materials. If you know and use the life-cycle approach, you will feel at home in this category.

Regional priority

Not all sites are created equal and not all credits are worth the same across the globe. Some credits have regional priorities, which reflect the biggest issues that should be taken care of in their respective location. The goal of the Regional Priority credits is to amplify the impact where it is needed the most.

Sustainable sites

If we think about the protection of the existing environment, sustainable sites is the category that focuses on and rewards positive impact. Integrating the site with local and regional ecosystems, preserving biodiversity and restoring nature are main points of interest.

Water efficiency

Holistic approach to water is required in order to maintain natural hydrological cycles. Therefore this category looks more deeply into both indoor and outdoor use, improving efficiency first and looking into alternatives. In this category you can get credits for things like reduction or elimination of water required for landscaping, using water-efficient fixtures and monitoring the water use in order to optimize it.

Certification levels

Projects that earn enough credits can earn one of 4 certification levels. From the lowest to highest achievement, these levels are;

• Certified 40-49 points
• Silver 50-59 points
• Gold 60-79 points
• Platinum 80+ points

Why to use LEED?

Even though I will be using LEED, this argument applies to all major green building certification systems. If you have a different preference, feel free to use them.

Buildings certification systems are not final cure for environmental, social and economic challenges we are facing, but they are a good start. If all buildings were certified from now on, it would certainly be better than doing nothing. At the same time, if you aim to challenge what we consider sustainable, you need to go far beyond the checklist of certification systems that are created to be universally applicable.

True sustainability is far more complex and open to discussion, yet it is essential to have certain baseline that anchors the idea of sustainability and gives us foundation on which to build and improve. Hopefully, there are going to be many more certified buildings across the globe soon.

Take care.