BOSTON — The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) will introduce a new version of its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification program in 2009. The USGBC announced that the new version, called LEED 2009, has been approved via a ballot of USGBC members. It includes a series of technical advancements focused on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and addressing other environmental and human health outcomes.

LEED 2009 will also incorporate regional credits, extra points that have been identified as priorities within a project’s given environmental zone. LEED is also said to have undergone a scientifically grounded re-weighting of credits, changing allocation of points among LEED credits to reflect climate change and energy efficiency as urgent priorities. According to the USGBC, this will be one of the most significant changes to the rating system, and will increase the importance of green building as a means of contributing immediate and measurable solutions toward energy independence and climate change mitigation.

Introduced along with LEED 2009 is a “pilot process” for individual credits that will allow major new technical developments to be flexibly trialed, evaluated, and incorporated into LEED.

“The conclusion of the balloting process marks the culmination of tireless work done by representatives from all corners of the building industry,” said Brendan Owens, vice president, LEED Technical Development, U.S. Green Building Council. “We have the deepest gratitude for our volunteer leaders, and for their bold steps towards resetting the bar for green building leadership and challenges the industry to move faster and reach further.”

For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.

Publication date: 12/08/2008