Your Guide to the New Draft of LEED

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released a draft of the next version of the LEED rating systems, and has opened the first public comment period for that draft. The comment period will run from Nov. 8, 2010, to Jan. 14, 2011 (lengthened from the original period which was set to end Dec. 31). According to USGBC's website, a second public comment period is expected in mid-2011, and the rating system itself is expected to be released in November 2012. Although it had been dubbed "LEED 2012" informally during development, after the current "LEED 2009" system, the new version of the rating system is officially unnamed.

USGBC gave me a sneak peak of the draft just before the public comment period opened. I've posted my analysis of what's (mostly) the same, what's different, and what's totally new in an EBN article. I focused my analysis on the LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC) rating system, but readers should see the rating system draft for all the rating systems, including details on LEED-NC that I didn't have space (or time) to discuss.

While LEED 2009 has 49 credits and 9 prerequisites, the new LEED draft has 49 credits and 15 prerequisites. They are organized into 10 credit categories--up from 7 for LEED 2009. Structurally, the biggest changes are:

• The rating system begins with a new "Integrated Process" category
• A new Location and Transportation category collects location-related credits from LEED-NC with others from LEED for Neighborhood Developments
• At the end of the rating system, a new "Performance" category includes the commissioning credits (moved from Energy and Atmosphere) along with a handful of new measurement and reporting prerequisites and credits.

Image: Sue Brown, CEO of Dobson Floors, stands next to a LEED plaque in the company's Frisco, Texas store.