A New Certification for Ecological Design
by Chuck Hall

The United States Green Building Council (www.usgbc.org) has created a new certification for architectural design using ecological principles. This certification is called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). This trademarked Green Building Rating System is now the nationally accepted standard for designing homes with minimal environmental impact.

The LEED certification recognizes five major areas of ecological design: sustainable site development (including ecological landscaping, environmental factors and impact of building usage); water savings (including rainwater catch systems, high efficiency plumbing systems and conservation principles); energy savings (including passive solar design, energy-efficient appliances and lighting and geothermal heating and cooling); materials selection (including transportation costs to the building site and environmental considerations in the manufacture of building materials) and environmental air quality (including the potential for toxins being released into the home from seepage from building materials). The LEED program provides a method of benchmarking and roadmapping every phase of the life cycle of a building; from conception to completion and use.

A LEED home helps the environment by using less resources, particularly energy and water. The certification process considers the environmental impact of the placement of the building and the resources it will use when completed. Additionally, the selection of materials used in the construction of the building are required to meet LEED standards for environmental impact in manufacture and transportation. Finally, the LEED program compiles data on how the building uses resources once it is occupied.

 LEED was designed to be the construction industry’s standard for green building. If you are planning to build in the near future, you might want to consider hiring an architect or engineer who is familiar with the LEED standard. Projects using this building standard are certified as either gold, silver or platinum, depending on the number or credits they receive.

Although some green buildings have gotten a bad reputation as being more costly, with careful planning a LEED designed building can be no more expensive than its traditional counterpart. It pays to have a LEED-savvy designer for this reason. If you are interested in LEED certification, visit www.usgbc.org before you build!

If you are an architect, engineer or are involved in the building industry and would like more information, the LEED program offers training and workshops on the certification process and green building techniques. The LEED program’s goal is to educate the building industry throughout the United States in the processes of green building. If you can build your new home with LEED certification for the same price as a traditional construction, a home that uses less energy and has a less harmful impact on the environment, doesn’t it make sense to choose the green alternative?

  Chuck Hall is a Sustainability Consultant and author. His latest book, Green Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is now available at Booklocker.com. You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org or visit the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org.