By Suzanne Johnson Crocker, St. Louis, Missouri, 1-314-206-4242, johnsonsuz@pbworld.com; Ozgem Ornektekin, New York, New York, 1-212-465-5274, ornektekin@pbworld.com; and Tyrone Teekah, New York, New York, 1-212-465-5713, teekah@pbworld.com

The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC’s) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, which was first developed in 1995 to better define “green” buildings, is now mandated by cities, states and federal agencies across the U.S. The rating system is divided into six credit categories—sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design. Each category carries credits, and some have prerequisites. Meeting the prerequisites and earning from 26 to 69 of the credits will earn a building a LEED title of Certified Silver, Gold or Platinum. For each prerequisite and credit, the intent, requirements, submittals and potential technologies and strategies are described in the rating system.

Currently, USGBC has a reference guide only for New Construction and Major Renovations. This guide delves into what is needed for a design team to ensure that its building becomes LEED certified and provides detailed information that is not contained in the free down-loadable LEED Green Building Rating System.

The Call for Guidance

USGBC issued a request for proposal (RFP) for reference guides to be developed for existing buildings (EB) and commercial interiors (CI), and for a review of its Reference Guide for new construction (NC). The RFP called for consultants in the areas of sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Our team put together a winning proposal for indoor environmental quality, and is now supporting a USGBC technical advisory groups (TAGs), providing technical expertise and a strong understanding of LEED rating systems. As the RFP demonstrated, IEQ can be a difficult area to pin down. The RFP listed indoor air monitoring, system controls, daylighting techniques, productivity impact studies, low-emitting materials and VOC reduction, natural and mechanical ventilation, and thermal comfort.

Each reference guide and version of LEED is developed by membership volunteers and contractors through LEED committees that work with IEQTAGs to assimilate ideas into a coherent whole. Issues brought up by the TAGs and the consultants must be addressed because the product will be put to vote and passes only with membership consensus. Once our team and the TAG has draft issues of the three reference guides, which are being prepared by a rating system contractor, we will

• Review the drafts simultaneously with the TAG
• Coordinate comments from the TAG and ensure all issues are addressed
• Prepare a revised reference guide with draft language and return it to the contractor
• Assist the contractor in preparing supporting material.

Moving PB and the Industry Forward

To date, we have reviewed the EB Guide and returned it to the TAG with noted issues, and will review it again, after the TAG addresses the items noted. We are currently reviewing the CI guide.