Wednesday, April 29, 2009

U.S. Green Building Council develops new energy-efficient standards

The U.S. Green Building Council has developed a new set of LEED regional credits as part of the latest version of the LEED Green Building Rating System.
This new category sets out a regional standard by which companies can design, build or operate energy efficient buildings.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a voluntary program designed to encourage building owners to invest in energy efficient properties.
“Because environmental priorities differ among various regions of the country — the challenges in the Southeast differ from those in the Northwest, for example — regionally specific credits give LEED a way to directly respond to diverse, regionally grounded issues,” says Brendan Owens, vice president of technical development for the U.S. Green Building Council. “The inclusion of these regional LEED credits is the council’s first step toward addressing regional environmental issues.”
The U.S. Green Building Council will launch the next version of its LEED green building certification program on April 27. Recent updates to LEED 2009 reflect updates in building science and technology. As part of the updated program, building owners will be able to earn additional “bonus points” on their LEED certifications for implementing green building strategies that specifically address issues in their region.The U.S. Green Building Council is also rolling out a faster, easier tool to manage the latest version of LEED Online. This online program will help streamline the LEED registration and certification process. The Washington, D.C.-based organization has 78 local affiliates, more than 20,000 member companies and organizations, and more than 100,000 LEED accredited professional. For more information see : Houston Business Journal www.houstonrealtyadvisors.com or www.houstonrealtyadvisors.net