Foundations of LEED 1_2023 - Page 004

Extracted Content

I. INTRODUCTION

USGBC’s vision is that “buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation.” USGBC’s mission, “to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life” builds on this vision through the development and improvement of the LEED rating system.

This document, the Foundations of LEED, defines the purpose, development, and implementation process and procedures for the LEED green building rating system. The Foundations of LEED is an evolving design for market-transformation to be achieved through the implementation and ongoing development of LEED and the processes, procedures, and infrastructure that support it. As with LEED, this document is a work in-progress, updated on an as-needed basis as LEED evolves to ensure that LEED remains the benchmark for leadership in market transformation of the built environment.

The Foundations of LEED is required reading for all persons involved in the LEED development and quality improvement process.

The environmental footprint of the constructed human environment is massive. LEED was created to provide the people who design, build, and operate buildings with an organized, consensus benchmark for defining and evaluating green buildings. LEED is intended to transform the way people practice design, construction, and operations of buildings. Its requirements are written by the people who design, construct, operate, and occupy those buildings, neighborhoods, cities and communities. As professional practice, technology, products, and services evolve, so will LEED.

II. WHAT IS LEED?

1. Overview

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the LEED [® ] green building rating system [™ ] is a framework for identifying, implementing, and measuring green buildings, neighborhood, cities and communities design, construction, operations, and maintenance.

LEED is a voluntary, consensus-based framework which serves as a guideline and assessment mechanism for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance, green buildings, neighborhoods, cities and communities.

LEED seeks to optimize the use of natural resources, promote regenerative and restorative strategies, maximize the positive and minimize the negative environmental and human health impacts of the buildings industry, and provide high quality indoor environments for occupants. LEED emphasizes integrated design, appropriate integration of existing technology, and use of state-of-the-art strategies to advance expertise in green building and transform professional practice.

The LEED green building rating systems are voluntary, consensus-based, and market-driven. The technical basis on which LEED is built seeks a balance between requirement of existing best practice and voluntary incorporation of leadership strategies. LEED sets a challenging yet achievable set of benchmarks that define green building.

2. LEED Mission

LEED encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable and green building and neighborhood development practices through the creation and implementation of a universally understood and accepted benchmark encompassing existing and new standards, tools, and performance criteria.

3. USGBC Strategic Goals

• Sustainable Cities and Communities: Catalyze and lead the building sector’s active participation in the movement to achieve sustainable cities and communities.

• Climate and Natural Resources: Lead the dramatic reduction and eventual elimination of building construction and operations’ contribution to climate change and natural resource depletion.

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