IES Blog

LEED 09

Posted : February 12, 2009 by Suzanne, Category: Sustainability

Being home for the holidays last month I was struck by how familiar friends and family had become with terminology from our profession. In particular, I was surprised to find I didn’t have to explain what LEED was when talking about projects.

This just goes to show how far LEED has come since it was introduced in 2000 as one of the first green building rating systems. And, it raises the question if LEED is on the path of world domination. But this is a topic for another post.

However, the introduction of LEED 2009 last fall raises another common question I hear from clients and colleagues, “How does LEED 2009 affect me?”

The goal of LEED 2009 is to align the various LEED rating systems as part of LEED v3.0. The credits have been reweighted to provide a 100 point score basis (something easy to remember finally). An extra 10 bonus points are up for grabs in the form of the regular Innovation credits and the new Regional points. The Regional points are not new credits but allow additional weighting of challenging but critical credits for the region. And my favorite, water, which in the past had been short changed, now has a prerequisite and additional target levels.

“So”, you ask, “how does LEED 2009 affect me?” The USGBC has provided this schedule to help;

LEED 2009 will affect you, if:
1. Project not registered with LEED.
If a project is considering LEED, register the project now, before LEED 2009 goes live in March. The cost is minimal - $600 or less. In the past, projects have been able to upgrade to the newer version of LEED. This provides two options and more flexibility for the project.
2. Registered project hasn’t submitted for review.
Due to the reweighting of certain credits, LEED 2009 might provide a project with a higher certification level. It’s worth checking and you can submit under LEED 2009 in May.
3. LEED AP exam.
The current exam for LEED-NC v2.2 is only available until March 31, 2009. Be forewarned that seats are filling up fast. In the past, the exam has become progressively more challenging with each new version.

It will be interesting to see how this new structure works. More information on LEED 2009 can be found on the USGBC website.

Tags:LEED, USGBC