The system has won its popularity with nearly 25,000 projects registered for certification and over 160,000 consultants across the world. Obviously, it enjoys the highest recognition in the United States, where it was founded and awarded to over a third of all LEED-certified buildings. The program operates in 120 countries and certifies buildings of all types - commercial facilities to houses. Green Building Council organisations continuously emerge in new countries, with Sri Lanca being the present location of introducing this building certification system. In Europe, the World Green Building Council associates as many as 25 countries.
GBC locations in Europe.
LEED system was created in 1998 by the USBGC, short for U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit organisation providing standards for what constitutes green building. The organisation being part of USGBC is GBCI, or Green Building Certification Institute (www.gbci.org), which ensures that consultants represent the highest quality standards of LEED certification knowledge.
Consultant
Becoming a LEED consultant requires passing the basic LEED Green Associate exam. In order to sit the exam, the candidates must document their experience in the green construction sector or completion of relevant training. The exam is comprised of 100 questions addressing LEED certification, design issues and green building principles.
Taking the LEED AP exam is possible after receiving LEED GA title and documenting involvement on a project registered or certified for LEED within three years from submitting the application. The examination ends with obtaining the LEEP AP title in one of the categories.
Categories of LEED consultants.
All exams and qualification documentation is carried out by GBCI. The exam is available in English and requires a very good command of both the language and terminology of green building, design and architecture.
Achieving LEED certification
Achieving the certification is not an easy task and requires taking on an experienced consultant, who will advise on how to run an investment and obtain the best result. It is crucial to make a decision about applying for the certification well in advance. The optimal moment is already the development cycle, as a delayed decision may close the path for obtaining a high score or even hinder the certification process due to failure to meet critical requirements.
There are various types of certification depending on the type of certified facility:
- LEED for New Construction
- LEED for Homes
- LEED for School
- LEED for Core & Shell
- LEED for Retail
- LEED for Commercial Interiors
- LEED for Existing Buildings
- LEED for Neighborhood Development
The most popular ones in Poland are LEED NS and LEED CS. The new available one is LEED for Homes.
Irrespective of a selected category, the certification covers 7 groups of categories in which 110 points can be obtained. Important is that 5 basic categories present so-called critical requirements, meeting of which is necessary to apply for the certificate on any other level. In total, it is necessary to score 8 points in five categories:
1. Sustainable Sites (max. 26 points)
1.1. Reduce pollution from construction activities by controlling soil erosion and airborne dust generation.
2. Water efficiency (max. 10 points)
2.1. Water use reduction
3. Energy and Atmosphere (max. 35 points)
3.1. Verify that the building’s energy related systems are installed, calibrated and perform according to the owner’s project requirements
3.2 Minimum requirements concerning building’s energy related features
3.3 Basic requirements concerning cooling systems management
4. Materials and resources (max. 14 points)
4.1 Provide an easily accessible area that is dedicated to the collection and storage of materials for recycling
5. Indoor environment quality (max. 15 points)
5.1. Minimum indoor air quality index in accordance with detailed norms
5.2. Control over environmental tobacco smoke
6. Innovation and Design (max. 6 points, including 1 point for the presence of LEED consultant)
7. Regional priorities (max. 4 points)
Collecting the points enables the applicant to achieve the certification:Certified – 40-49 points, Silver – 50-59 points, Gold – 60 – 79 points, Platinum – 80 and more points.
Required number of points for achieving LEED certification.
Types of LEED certification.
LEED certification in Poland
Interior of Rondo 1 in Warsaw. The building has achieved the LEED Silver certification. Currently, 6 designs in Poland hold LEED certifications (out of 9,541 certified designs across the world) - 3 designs at each Gold and Silver level. So far, no design has obtained the Platinum certification.
As of today, 31 designs in Poland (out of 24,987 designs across the world) have been registered.
The 6 certified designs are the following:
- Rondo 1 – LEED EBOM Gold certification
- Deutsche Bank Green Branch Warsaw – LEED CI Gold certification
- Zebra Tower – LEED CS Gold certification
- BorgWarner Factory – LEED NC Silver certification
- Seat of Skanska Property Poland – LEED CI Silver certification
- Deutsche Bank Green Branch Trio – LEED CI Silver certification
LEED is next to BREEAM and DGNB a system regarded as creating the principles of sustainable development. Although there is much that differs these programs, they share the same key concept: green building.
Compare the main features of LEED, BREEM and DGNB.
