September 11, 2002—The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) member committees have recently released three major new LEED initiatives:
LEED version 2.1 is an administrative update of the 2.0 standard for new commercial and high-rise residential buildings. Its purpose is to simplify the documentation requirements and costs of Certifying projects to the LEED 2.0 standard. These changes will significantly reduce the costs of documenting LEED credits and simplify the documentation process–without compromising the stringency of the LEED standard. To learn more and provide feedback online, visit the LEED 2.1 page.
LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) expands the breadth of projects eligible for LEED certification by addressing the specifics of tenant improvement projects primarily in office and institutional buildings. LEED-CI is designed to complement the updated LEED Green Building Rating System, Version 2.1. Projects are currently being recruited to participate in the pilot testing of this new standard. For more information about LEED-CI and pilot participation, visit the LEED-CI Web page.
LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) was released in January for pilot testing. The LEED-EB Rating System was developed to provide guidelines for ongoing sustainable operations and maintenance practices. Over sixty projects have been selected to participate in the pilot program leading to the public release of LEED-EB in mid-2003. Complete details are available on the LEED-EB Web page.
