Muna wa Wanjiru asked:
Leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) has been developed by Green Building Council US for designing environmentally sustainable construction. Over 1400 projects in 30 states of United States have been developed by LEED.
Objectives of Leadership in energy and environmental design;
LEED was created to accomplish the following objectives:
1. To define green building by establishing standards of measurement.
2. Promoting integrated design practices.
3. Recognizing environmental leadership in building industry.
4. To increase the awareness among customers by specifying the benefits of green building.
The above are the main objectives of LEED.
LEED is recommended for six particular areas like sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environment quality and innovative design process.
LEED is incorporated for various projects ranging from new buildings to existing buildings. LEED is popular in green building industry in United States. LEED certified buildings are divided normally into 4 categories. They are LEED basic certified buildings, LEED platinum certified buildings, LEED gold certified buildings, and LEED silver certified buildings.
LEED standards in Canada provide certification to the builders that they have demonstrated sustainability by meeting the standards in environment and energy efficiency. This certification will help in identifying the development projects that protect and improve the overall health and natural environment. This will help in improving the quality of life in the society. Leadership in energy and environment design for homes;
LEED for homes is a voluntary certification process. This process aims at providing environmentally sustainable and efficient homes. Construction of high performance green homes is possible with LEED.
LEED is helpful to real estate professionals, architects, facility managers, construction managers, government officials and so on. State and local government uses LEED for public owned and public funded buildings. LEED projects are used in more than 30 states in US and in 40 other countries including Mexico, India Brazil, and Canada,.
Leed for schools recognizes the unique designs for schools. It also addresses class room acoustics, master planning, mold prevention etc. Green schools are possible with LEED. This is healthy for students and teachers. This will provide excellent learning environment for students. The green school allows fresh air everywhere. This will nurture school children to get a healthy atmosphere. LEED for school is also recommended for early education, day care centers and so on. However it is not compulsory. You must remember that LEED for schools are cost effective and beneficial to teachers and students.
LEED is a voluntary standard to support green building design. If you want, you can read the details about LEED in LEED Rating system page. You can also get information about certification from LEED in the web. You can also use LEED logo if you wish by submitting usage certification request. You can get certification according to the type of the building. You can get registration information in the registration fee page of LEED rating system. LEED online helps you to get documentation 100% through online. This is comfortable and hence you can use it easily.