The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced that it will introduce “the next major evolution” of its voluntary LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system for commercial buildings. The 2009 version incorporates “regional credits,” which are extra points that have been identified as priorities within a project’s given environmental zone. According to the USGBC, this expanded version of LEED “delivers against key environmental and human health impacts, and puts in place a transparent framework for weighting credits accordingly, based on the best available science.” More information is available at www.usgbc.org.
Work is also complete on the forthcoming National Green Building Standard (NGBS), the first consensus-based standard for residential green building that, thanks to NAA/NMHC, also covers apartment properties. The final document, which was supposed to be released early this fall, is awaiting approval by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is expected to be published in the spring. The new standard will offer apartment executives uniform guidance on green building practices and will provide an alternative to non-standardized green rating systems such as LEED. The April 11, 2008, AIMS Building Codes Update examines the NGBS to explain how it differs from other green building guidelines and how apartment firms can use it to their advantage.