March 8, 2004—The U.S. Green Building Council has released for public comment the LEED for Existing Buildings Rating System. The LEED-EB Rating System targets the 26 billion gsf of existing commercial building space with environmental standards for optimizing building operations and maintenance. The open period begins Monday, March 1 and ends at 5:00pm PST, Tuesday, March 30, 2004.
Over 90 existing building projects representing more than 17 million gsf in the U.S. and Canada participated in the LEED-EB pilot program. The current draft of the rating system incorporates feedback from those pilot projects including lessons learned and over 180 Credit Interpretation Rulings. USGBC is requesting public comment to elicit constructive feedback from the broadest perspective in order to create the most effective and practical green operations and maintenance standard for the marketplace.
Respondents should submit comments via online form which is available on the USGBC Web site. For background information is also available online.
The LEED Steering Committee will review public comments on the rating system and then it will go to ballot by the USGBC membership. Official release of the rating system is expected by mid-Summer 2004.
