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Source section: Section 5 - About USGBC and LEED PDF page: 95 Guide page: 88 OCR quality: high (531 words)
OCR Text
Achieving LEED certification requires satisfying all prerequisites and earning a minimum number of credits. Each LEED rating system corresponds to a LEED reference guide that explains credit criteria, describes the benefits of complying with the credit, and suggests approaches to achieving credit compliance.
Although the organization of prerequisites and credits varies slightly depending on the building type and associated rating system, LEED is generally organized by the following broad concepts:
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LOCATION AND TRANSPORTATION. LEED emphasizes location and transportation issues by rewarding development that preserves environmentally sensitive places and takes advantage of existing infrastructure, community resources, and transit. It encourages access to open space for walking, physical activity, and time spent outdoors. Credits also encourage smart transportation choices and access to a diversity of uses.
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SUSTAINABLE SITES. Choosing a building’s site and managing that site during construction are important considerations for a project’s sustainability. LEED credits addressing sustainable sites discourage development of previously undeveloped land and damage to ecosystems and waterways; they encourage regionally appropriate landscaping, control of rainwater runoff, and reduced erosion, light pollution, heat island effect, and construction-related pollution.
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WATER EFFICIENCY. Buildings are major users of our potable water supply. The goal of credits addressing water efficiency is to encourage smarter use of water, inside and out. Water reduction is typically achieved through more efficient appliances, fixtures, and fittings inside and water-wise landscaping outside.
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ENERGY AND ATMOSPHERE. LEED encourages a wide variety of strategies to address energy consumption, including commissioning; energy use monitoring; efficient design and construction; efficient appliances, systems, and lighting; demand response, and the use of renewable and clean sources of energy, generated on-site or off-site.
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MATERIALS AND RESOURCES. During both construction and operations, buildings generate large amounts of waste and use tremendous volumes of materials and resources. These credits encourage the selection of sustainably grown, harvested, produced, and transported products and materials. They promote the use of life-cycle assessment to holistically evaluate materials and the disclosure and optimization of material chemical ingredients.
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INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY. The average American spends about 90% of the day indoors, where pollutant concentrations may be two to 100 times higher than outdoor levels. Thus indoor air quality can be significantly worse than outside. LEED credits promote strategies that can
5 improve indoor air, provide access to natural daylight and views, and improve acoustics.
E * INNOVATION. LEED promotes innovation by offering points for improving a building’s performance 4 well beyond what is required by the credits or for incorporating green building ideas that are not
& specifically addressed elsewhere in the rating system. This credit category also rewards the inclusion
= ofa LEED Accredited Professional on the project team.
w * REGIONAL PRIORITY. USGBC’s regional councils, chapters, and affiliates have identified the
5 environmental concerns that are most important for every region of the country, and LEED credits that
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address those local priorities have been selected for each region. A project team that earns a regional
a priority credit earns one bonus point in addition to any points awarded for that credit.
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6 LEED for Neighborhood Development is organized around three main categories, focusing on where, what, w and how to build green at a community scale.
8 * SMART LOCATION AND LINKAGE. This section of the rating system provides guidance on where oh the project is built, encouraging the selection of sites with existing services and transit.
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