LEED ratings, adaptations, and versions

- When LEED was first introduced to the building industry, it was a good fit for new construction commercial projects, especially office buildings. With growing interest from owners of other building types, USGCB expanded the rating system to include additional building applications. Today, new buildings, existing buildings, homes, and even entire neighborhoods and cities can pursue LEED certification. Currently, there are a total of five LEED rating systems that address multiple project types. LEED for Building Design and Construction, also called LEED BD+C, applies to buildings that are being constructed or going through a major renovation. LEED Interior Design and Construction, LEED ID+C, applies to projects that are a complete interior fit out. LEED for Building Operations and Maintenance, LEED O&M, applies to existing buildings that are undergoing improvement work or little to no construction. LEED Neighborhood Development, LEED ND, applies to new land development or redevelopment projects, including residential, nonresidential, or mixed use. Projects can be at any stage of the development process, from conceptual planning to construction under this rating system. LEED Homes applies to single-family homes, low-rise multi-family projects which are one to three stories, or four to six story mid-rise multi-family projects. Each one of these five rating systems offers adaptations which allow teams to address unique project priorities such as project user types or operational aspects. For example, the priority for a school is to improve learning ability of students, while a hospital may focus on healing spaces for patients. Think about an office building versus a warehouse. It's ideal for an office building to be close to public transportation such as a metro station, but a warehouse cannot be in a city center, so LEED encourages warehouses to be located accessible to an airport or exit to a highway in that particular adaptation. The LEED system is comprised of 21 adaptations designed to accommodate the needs of a variety of market sectors. Each adaptation has a scorecard customized to the relevant market sector and building types. LEED BD+C adaptations are new construction, core and shell, data centers, schools, warehouse and distribution centers, retail, hospitality, and healthcare. LEED ID+C adaptions are commercial interiors, retail, and hospitality. LEED O&M adaptations are existing buildings, data centers, schools, warehouses and distribution centers, retail, and hospitality. LEED Neighborhood Development can apply to build projects, as well as planned developments. LEED Homes applies to single-family homes, low-rise, and mid-rise multi-family projects. USGBC launched its first pilot, LEED version 1.0, in August 1998. Since then, the LEED rating system continued to evolve and has gone through version two, version three, also called version 2009. And the most current version, as of the recording of this course, is version four, and version 4.1 is underway. As building codes, products, and technologies are improved, updated LEED versions are introduced every three years or so. A project is grandfathered into the version that was current at the time of project registration as long as the first phase of the project documentation is completed by the sunset date determined by the USGBC. For example, there are a significant number of active projects pursuing LEED version three. Since the sunset date for LEED version three is June 30, 2021, these projects can stay with version three as long as the completed design submission is made by this date. It's always a good idea to stay up-to-date with the development of LEED, not only with the current version, but also with the development of the upcoming version. LEED evolves, and as building professionals, we need to evolve with it and stay informed.