The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is requesting public comment on a proposed update to the LEED green building rating system as part of the organization's continuous improvement process and on-going development of the LEED program. The public comment period will close on December 31, 2010.
The proposed update builds on the foundation of LEED 2009, including the alignment and weighting of credits, and advances the "bookshelf" framework where credits are applied to specific building types. This latest draft also places increased emphasis on an integrated process and building performance.
USGBC also is improving the process it uses to collect and respond to stakeholder feedback on the ideas presented in the public comment drafts of LEED.
In addition to the public comment Web pages at www.usgbc.org, USGBC will also take feedback from projects testing pilot credits, and use input from a moderated forum dedicated to discussing the LEED program as well as comments from various webinars that will be held with key stakeholders.
USGBC says "it intends for this public comment process to be much more generative in nature."
The USGBC recently added a new LEED materials credit for "Chemical Avoidance in Building Materials" to its LEED Pilot Credit Library.
A recent class action lawsuit filed by Henry Gifford, owner of Gifford Fuel Saving and a public critic of the USGBC LEED certification program, set a debate in motion over the value and performance of the LEED program as a rating system and a way to lower energy use in buildings.