What can designers expect from the upcoming LEED 2012?
According to the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED 2009 rolled out some major changes: there were adjustments to the rating system “content alignment,” a new LEED Online v3, and updates to the professional credentials and certification process.
Now, a new 2012 draft is being batted around, with a focus on incentivizing integrated design. “The current draft of LEED 2012 builds on these changes but focuses on increasing the technical rigor of the rating system, expanding the market sectors able to use LEED and striving for simplicity in terms of usability. Project teams will be rewarded for identifying synergies among building systems and using them to achieve improved system design and performance.”
There are also efforts to make the growing toolkit of LEED rating systems more user-friendly. “LEED credit language has been rigorously reviewed and revised to clarify requirements. Credit names and their organization within categories have shifted to be more intuitive around broader issues within each category.” Furthermore, U.S. Green Building Council says there are new, better tools for measuring and managing energy and water use.
View comment documents and submit your own thoughts to U.S. Green Building Council by March 20.
In other news, for those near Washington, D.C., Dumbarton Oak’s garden and landscape studies program has a symposium coming on May 4-5 on urban agriculture. “Food and the City” will explore the “intricate interrelationship between urban context and food production,” which is “central to the current debate on sustainability.” Register early given these events fill up fast.
Image credit: U.S. Green Building Council
