USGBC Releases LEED-ND Standards For Comment
I would like to thank the efforts of my colleague Lee Hoffman for drafting this blog post.
As many readers are aware, the U.S. Green Building Council initiated a pilot program for its rating system for LEED for Neighborhood Development ("LEED-ND") early last year. LEED-ND was developed to take into account not just a single building, but an entire plan of development when accrediting green design. The intent of the LEED-ND program is to focus more on smart growth than green building design, and is purported to be the first national program to use formalized standards to define what constitutes smart growth.The pilot program for LEED-ND was developed by the USGBC in conjunction with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Congress for New Urbanism. Realizing that LEED standards are now becoming more commonplace in law and regulation, LEED-ND was crafted with an eye toward influencing both the marketplace and public policy. After the pilot program was completed, the USGBC then took the learnings from the pilot program and substantially re-worked LEED-ND to incorporate those learnings. A new, revised rating system for LEED-ND is now available for formal public comment.
The USGBC will be accepting comments on the LEED-ND proposed standards through January 5, 2009. After that, the LEED-ND core committee will make additional revisions to the LEED-ND standard, re-publish the proposed standard, and accept comments on those standards that have been revised. The final draft will then be voted on by USGBC members. The new standards, along with commenting formalities, may be accessed at http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/LEEDDrafts/RatingSystemVersions.aspx?CMSPageID=1458.
