United States. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced a call for proposals to solicit feedback and concepts for the next version of LEED.
The USGBC created the LEED green building program 20 years ago to measure and define green building and provide a roadmap for the development of sustainable buildings.
In April 2019, the USGBC officially launched the full suite of LEED v4.1 rating systems, which emphasizes human expertise and leads project teams to create spaces that not only reduce carbon emissions, energy, water use, and waste, but also improve the health and well-being of the people who live, these buildings, cities and communities work, learn and play every day.
"With LEED v4.1 we have fundamentally transformed our rating system development process," said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of USGBC. "It has allowed us to be more agile and adaptable to incorporate real-time feedback so we can realistically raise the bar in the marketplace. We received an overwhelming response to our LEED v4.1 call for proposals, which has helped us meet the needs of the market for LEED v4.1 to succeed and be a market leader. Building on this success, we are pleased to re-engage the market to solicit ideas, proposals and feedback to improve LEED v4.1 and future versions of LEED. Together, we can continue the work we started with LEED v4.1 to ensure that LEED is not only the de facto leadership standard but also creates a better standard of living."
Cities around the world are mitigating climate risks by committing to raising the bar to reduce carbon emissions. Investors are weighing their opportunities, consciously evaluating projects that align with their values and demonstrate winning ESG strategies. Building owners are focusing their attention on occupants to reduce inequality, combat health problems, and provide value to support everyone's everyday needs and raise their standard of living. LEED's track record is to support these market changes by continuing to improve performance throughout the building lifecycle, advancing positive net and net positive practices, and rewarding leaders based on their performance to enable building owners and city leaders to track progress toward the environment, social and governance (ESG) objectives.
"There would be no LEED without the generous support of our members, advocates and stakeholders," Ramanujam added. "I want to personally thank everyone who has supported us over the past 20 years and contributed to the development and growth of LEED. I'm proud of what we've been able to do together this year with LEED v4.1, and I'm excited and optimistic about what the future holds. I invite all members of the green building community to get involved and help us define the vision for the next version of LEED as we work together to build a better future, because that future would not be possible without your leadership.
"Imagine a rating system that adapts and responds to the ever-changing world around us. This is what we are working with LEED for," said Melissa Baker, senior vice president of LEED. "Now that LEED v4.1 is out and has been positively received by the community, we are exploring how we can strengthen LEED v4.1 and also plan what's next for the rating system. We are working to ensure that LEED remains a global leadership standard, and we know that as we evolve LEED, industry feedback and support is critical."
The USGBC community can participate in the call for the LEED proposals session. Industry leaders can also join the USGBC at Greenbuild's annual International Conference and Expo, which will take place in Atlanta, November 19-22, 2019, for the educational session "The Future of LEED," which will review market feedback and provide updates on performance results, transparency and continuous improvement for future versions of LEED.
