The comment period, which will close on March 20, marks the start of the LEED 2012 program delivery process.

“LEED sits at the core of the green building movement and is critical in realizing our collective mission,” said Scot Horst, senior vice president of LEED, USGBC. “LEED’s strength comes from its continuous evolution. This continuous improvement is the outcome of thousands of technical volunteers working to develop the program and the adaptability of the program to technological and market changes.”

The current draft of LEED has been refined to address technical stringency and rigor, measurement and performance tools, and an enhanced user experience. The technical changes have been informed by market data, stakeholder-generated ideas, expert engagement, and advances in technology.

Additional performance-based management features will help projects measure and manage energy and water usage, site and building material selection, and indoor environmental quality. “LEED 2012 is the next step toward a global, performance-based application,” said Horst. “In LEED 2012, a project’s engagement with LEED will represent an ongoing commitment that is supported by a suite of performance management tools.”

As the LEED program evolves to address the dynamic needs of the building industry, the development process is based on principles of transparency, openness, and inclusiveness, and includes multiple comment periods where input received is incorporated into LEED. The third public comment documents, including technical refinements, scorecards, and responses to comments from the previous public comment period is available at usgbc.org/LEED2012. Once the comment period process concludes, LEED 2012 will be balloted in June and launched in November.

Publication date: 3/5/2012