LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

LEED is flexible enough to apply to both commercial as well as residential building types. It works throughout a building's lifecycle – design and construction, operations and maintenance, tenant fitout, and significant retrofit. And "LEED for Neighborhood Development" extends the benefits of LEED beyond the building footprint into the neighborhood it serves.

LEED For New Construction

A LEED rating system has been designed for new construction to guide and distinguish high-performance commercial and institutional projects, including office buildings, high-rise residential buildings, government buildings, recreational facilities, manufacturing facilities and laboratories. It lists the intent, requirements, submittals and technologies/strategies for each credit and includes the Credit Checklist.

LEED for Schools

Recognizing the uniqueness of school spaces and children's health issues, LEED provides a unique rating system for schools that wish to build green, with measurable results. It addresses the special nature of the design and construction of K-12 schools, including classroom acoustics, master planning, mold prevention, and environmental site assessment.

LEED for Commercial Properties

LEED continues to develop tools for various segments of the commercial building industry, including tenant improvement projects that don't involve an entire building and existing buildings that retroactively want to improve and benchmark their sustainable performance. It can also help with major remodels of commercial buildings or mult-family projects over four floors and speculative commercial buildings where tenancy is not known or is not part of the initial construction.

For more information, please visit USGBC.org.