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84-629: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ( LEED ) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings , homes, and neighborhoods, which aims to help building owners and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently. As of 2023 there were over 105,000 LEED-certified buildings and over 205,000 LEED-accredited professionals in 185 countries worldwide. In

168-536: A circular economy . Draft versions of LEED v5 were released for public comment in 2024, and the final version of LEED v5 is expected to appear in 2025. It may address some of the previous criticisms. Despite concerns, LEED has been described as a "transformative force in the design and construction industry". LEED is credited with providing a framework for green building, expanding the use of green practices and products in buildings, encouraging sustainable forestry, and helping professionals to consider buildings in terms of

252-536: A Canadian provider organization and a green rater. The provider organization helps the project through the process while overseeing the green raters, individuals who conduct two mandatory site inspections: the thermal bypass inspection and the final inspection. The provider and rater assist in the certification process but do not themselves certify the project. In addition to certifying projects pursuing LEED, USGBC's Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) offers various accreditations to people who demonstrate knowledge of

336-401: A building or project and ensures that it meets the quality and performance standards of the selected scheme. In some countries such as Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, there are national operators that officially certify for BREEAM adapted to that country's standards, processes and construction methods. BREEAM certification has also been made mandatory for governmental construction projects in

420-637: A building-centric standard that doesn't consider location will inevitably undervalue the benefits of people living closer together in cities, compared to the costs of automobile-oriented suburban sprawl. Green building certification systems According to the Global Status Report 2017 published by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in coordination with the International Energy Agency (IEA), buildings and construction activities together contribute to 36% of

504-427: A comparison with emphasis on factors that heavily influence energy consumption. The number of points achieved in this credit is proportional to the predicted energy savings. This method has been criticized for inaccurately predicting actual energy usage. The USGBC admits that "current information indicates that most buildings do not perform as well as design metrics indicate. As a result, building owners might not obtain

588-474: A minimum of $ 2,900 to over $ 1 million for a large project. "Soft" costs – i.e., added costs to the building project to qualify for LEED certification – may range from 1% to 6% of the total project cost. The average cost increase was about 2%, or an extra $ 3–$ 5 per square foot. The application review and certification process is conducted through LEED Online, USGBC's web-based service. The GBCI also utilizes LEED Online to conduct their reviews. Applicants have

672-418: A more comprehensive assessment of buildings utilizing the principles of LCA was much sought after. In 1990, the first Sustainability Assessment Method for buildings, BREEAM was released. In 1993, Rick Fedrizzi , David Gottfried and Mike Italiano formed the world's first Green Building Council (GBC) with the U.S. Green Building Council . Their mission was to promote sustainability-focused practices in

756-684: A partner in Clean Feet, which funds innovative green energy and agricultural projects. Kats also served on a National Academy of Sciences board on strengthening U.S. global competitiveness. He was the Director of Financing for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy for five years under President Bill Clinton . Kats also serves on the advisory board of The CLEEN Project , which compiles and synthesizes clean economy job creation ideas for government leaders, sourced from top executives and policy experts. In 2022 Greg

840-401: A range of fields including public health, environmental justice, climate, urban infrastructure, cities, architecture, energy, economics, and finance—among others. He recently co-authored the report, "Cooling Cities, Slowing Climate Change and Enhancing Equity: Costs and Benefits of Smart Surfaces Adoption for Baltimore," which analyzed the potential of Smart Surfaces to cost-effectively cool

924-425: A target or benchmark is reached, the asset is given credits (or points) by a qualified BREEAM assessor. The category score is calculated according to the number of credits attained and the category weightings. Once the development has been fully assessed, the final performance rating is determined by the sum of the weighted category scores. The final performance rating is specified as: A qualified assessor evaluates

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1008-440: A weighted average for each rating scheme based upon actual impacts and the relative importance of those impacts to human health and environmental quality. The LEED council also appears to have assigned credit and measured weighting based upon the market implications of point allocation. From 2010, buildings can use carbon offsets to achieve green power credits for LEED-NC (new construction certification). For LEED BD+C v4 credit,

1092-579: A wider range of temperatures. On April 2, 2019, the USGBC released LEED v4.1, a new version of the LEED green building program, designed for use with cities, communities and homes. However, LEED v4.1 was never officially balloted. An update to v4, proposed as of November 22, 2022, took effect on March 1, 2024. Any projects that register under LEED v4 after March 1, 2024 must meet these updated guidelines. As of January 2023, USGBC began to develop LEED v5. LEED v5

1176-465: Is a design tool rather than a performance-measurement tool and has tended to focus on energy modeling rather than actual energy consumption. It has been criticized for a point system that can lead to inappropriate design choices and the prioritization of LEED certification points over actual energy conservation; for lacking climate specificity; for not sufficiently addressing issues of climate change and extreme weather; and for not incorporating principles of

1260-579: Is a model supported by CAGBC and the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) for the verification of proposed retrofit projects. LEED certification is granted by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), which arranges third-party verification of a project's compliance with the LEED requirements. The certification process for design teams consists of the design application, under the purview of

1344-475: Is also President of Capital E , which works with cities, corporations, and financial institutions to design, scale, and implement clean energy and low carbon strategies. Capital E invests in early-stage clean tech and green firms. Kats is presently a driver in the campaign to revise LEED standards to require meaningful minimum carbon reductions for each level of LEED certification – both for new LEED buildings and for LEED rating renewals. In 2018, he served as

1428-666: Is also an international version of the EEWH certification for buildings abroad. There are six types of EEWH, which are divided into "basic type, accommodation type, factory building type, old building improvement type, community type, and overseas version". Each type is based on the four major axes of "ecology, energy saving, waste reduction, and health". According to the standards of the nine indicators of "biodiversity, greening amount, base water conservation, daily energy saving, carbon dioxide reduction, waste reduction, indoor environment, water resources, sewage and waste improvement", to determine

1512-483: Is the first version of the LEED rating system to be based on the June 2022 Future of LEED principles. The LEED v5 rating system will cover both new construction and existing buildings. An initial draft version was discussed at Greenbuild 2023. The beta draft of LEED v5 was released for an initial period of public comment on April 3, 2024. Changes were made in response to nearly 6,000 comments. A second public comment period

1596-611: Is to provide tools and methods to assess the environmental and resource-efficient performance of a building. The main objectives of such tools are: Furthermore, the result of such an assessment is to provide a certificate verifying the achievement of the desired performance and quality of the building. Some benefits of certifying a building or a property include: The German Sustainable Building Council (Deutsche Gesellschaft für nachhaltiges Bauen e.V., DGNB in German) introduced its own green building certification in 2009 together with

1680-664: The Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC) received permission to create LEED Canada-NC v1.0, which was based upon LEED-NC 2.0. As of 2021, Canada ranked second in the world (not including the USA) in its number of LEED-certified projects and square feet of space. Buildings in Canada such as Winnipeg's Canadian Museum for Human Rights are LEED certified due to practices including the use of rainwater harvesting , green roofs, and natural lighting. As of March 18, 2022,

1764-631: The Cities for Smart Surfaces initiative , SSC is partnering with 10 major cities across the U.S. including Boston, Dallas, and Phoenix to facilitate the adoption of Smart Surfaces at the metropolitan level and working with communities in those regions to support community-led, local Smart Surface implementation projects. SSC is also working in Bhopal and Indore, India with funding from the MacArthur Foundation , which they received in 2021. Kats

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1848-482: The German Federal Ministry of Traffic, Construction and Urban Development (Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Bau und Stadtentwicklung in German). The DGNB certification is voluntary and is based on German codes and standards ( DIN and VDI ). It is generally regarded as more comprehensive than BREEAM and LEED. The DGNB System is based on the three main paradigms of: It also takes into consideration

1932-1004: The International Building Code , only members of the USGBC and specific "in-house" committees may add to, subtract from, or edit the standard, subject to an internal review process. Proposals to modify the LEED standards are offered and publicly reviewed by USGBC's member organizations, of which there were 4551 as of October 2023. LEED has evolved since 1998 to more accurately represent and incorporate emerging green building technologies. LEED has developed building programs specific to new construction (NC), core and shell (CS), commercial interiors (CI), existing buildings (EB), neighborhood development (ND), homes (LEED for Homes), retail, schools, and healthcare. The pilot version, LEED New Construction (NC) v1.0, led to LEED NCv2.0, LEED NCv2.2 in 2005, LEED 2009 ( a.k.a. LEED v3) in 2009, and LEED v4 in November ;2013. LEED 2009

2016-560: The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. It has its own set of criteria for assessment and utilizes the ASHRAE codes and standards. Due to its simplicity and ease-of-use, the LEED quickly gained international recognition within a short period. Over the years, LEED has undergone many changes and is now currently in its fourth iteration, which was launched in late 2013. LEED rating systems differ according to

2100-494: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Kats has played lead roles in developing the energy efficiency and green building industries, and is a long-time thought leader, innovator, and investor in the transition to a low-carbon economy . A pioneer in the space, Kats led the creation of the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP); served as a key driver in

2184-463: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 's (EPA) Labs21 and LEED Canada. The Australian Green Star is based on both LEED and the UK's Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology ( BREEAM ). LEED 2009 encompasses ten rating systems for the design, construction and operation of buildings, homes and neighborhoods. Five overarching categories correspond to the specialties available under

2268-503: The U.S. Green Building Council , among others. The mission of the Smart Surfaces Coalition is as follows: "The Smart Surfaces Coalition is committed to the rapid, cost-effective global adoption of Smart Surfaces to enable cities to thrive despite climate threats, save cities billions of dollars, create jobs, decrease heat, reduce flood risk, slow global warming, and improve city livability, health, and equity." Through

2352-589: The green economy sector. He is founder and CEO of the Smart Surfaces Coalition , a non-profit organization consisting of 40+ national and international partner groups working to ensure the rapid, cost-effective adoption of reflective, porous, and green urban surface infrastructure, or "smart surfaces", in cities. Previously, Kats served as a Managing Director at Good Energies, a multi-billion dollar global clean energy investor, and Director of Financing for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at

2436-740: The "Energy use" sub-category, Bronze level requires energy use to be less than 65% of the requirements of the BBR, the Swedish Building Code. After 3 years, another follow-up inspection is conducted to see that everything is in the correct order and the standards are still being met. Besides Miljöbyggnad, the Sweden Green Building Council also administers the Swedish version of the British BREEAM adapted for

2520-402: The "qualified grade, bronze grade, silver grade Level, Gold Level, Diamond Level" five certification levels, generally audit rewards if qualified level can get 2% volume, bronze level 4%, silver level 6%, gold level 8%, diamond level 10%. The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) is recognized as the first Sustainability Assessment Method for buildings. It

2604-461: The CO2toEE project steering committee. He is the author of Greening Our Built World , which was translated into Portuguese, and has published several dozen reports and articles in global journals and outlets (see Publications below). Kats has served on the boards of a dozen clean energy companies including Blue Planet , which produces the first man-made carbon sequestering commercial product which

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2688-495: The Canada Green Building Council took over direct oversight for LEED™ green building certification of projects in Canada, formerly done by GBCI Canada. CAGBC will continue to work with Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) and USGBC while consolidating certification and credentialing for CAGBC's Zero Carbon Building Standards, LEED, TRUE, and Investor Ready Energy Efficiency (IREE). IREE

2772-572: The Founding Chair of IPMVP . During his tenure, he built it into the international energy and water efficiency design and verification standard for more than $ 50 billion in building efficiency upgrades to date. It's the design measurement verification basis for the modern energy efficiency industry and is required for all federal building efficiency upgrades. Kats was a founder of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) . He

2856-462: The IEQ category addresses thermal , visual, and acoustic comfort as well as indoor air quality . Laboratory and field research have directly linked occupants' satisfaction and performance to the building's thermal conditions. Energy reduction goals can be supported while improving thermal satisfaction. For example, providing occupants control over the thermostat or operable windows allows for comfort across

2940-561: The LEED Pilot Committee from 1996–2001. Scot Horst chaired the LEED Steering Committee beginning in 2005 and was deeply involved in the development of LEED 2009. Joel Ann Todd took over as chair of the steering committee from 2009 to 2013, working to develop LEED v4, and introducing social equity credits. Other steering committee chairs include Chris Schaffner (2019) and Jennifer Sanguinetti (2020). Chairs of

3024-821: The LEED professional program. That suite consists of: LEED v3 aligned credits across all LEED rating systems, weighted by environmental priority. It reflects a continuous development process, with a revised third-party certification program and online resources. Under LEED 2009, an evaluated project scores points to a possible maximum of 100 across six categories: sustainable sites (SS), water efficiency (WE), energy and atmosphere (EA), materials and resources (MR), indoor environment quality (IEQ) and design innovation (INNO). Each of these categories also includes mandatory requirements, which receive no points. Up to 10 additional points may be earned: 4 for regional priority credits and 6 for innovation in design. Additional performance categories for residences (LEED for Homes) recognize

3108-447: The LEED rating system, including LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP), LEED Green Associate, and LEED Fellow. The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) describes its LEED professional accreditation as "demonstrat[ing] current knowledge of green building technologies, best practices" and the LEED rating system, to assure the holder's competency as one of "the most qualified, educated, and influential green building professionals in

3192-822: The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green certification program was Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) senior scientist Robert K. Watson . It was Watson, sometimes referred to as the "Founding Father of LEED", who created the acronym. Over two decades, Watson led a broad-based consensus process, bringing together non-profit organizations, government agencies, architects, engineers, developers, builders, product manufacturers and other industry leaders. The original planning group consisted of Watson, Mike Italiano, architect Bill Reed (founding LEED Technical Committee co-chair 1994–2003), architect Sandy Mendler, builder Gerard Heiber and engineer Richard Bourne. Tom Paladino and Lynne Barker (formerly King) co-chaired

3276-611: The Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental Impacts (TRACI) and the environmental-impact weighting scheme developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Prior to LEED 2009 evaluation and certification, a building must comply with minimum requirements including environmental laws and regulations, occupancy scenarios, building permanence and pre-rating completion, site boundaries and area-to-site ratios. Its owner must share data on

3360-702: The Swedish construction practices and standards, called BREEAM-SE. It was first introduced in Sweden in 2013 and is used to certify new constructions. EEWH is Taiwan's Green Building Label. EEWH is the abbreviation of "Ecology, Energy Saving, Waste Reduction, and Health" and is established in 1999 as the fourth green building label certification in the world. It is currently the only green building evaluation system independently developed in tropical and subtropical climates, and most especially for high-temperature and high-humidity climates. Apart from operating in Taiwan, there

3444-577: The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on issues directly related to controversial political issues, including green jobs , including the Obama Administration's federal clean energy strategy, and the DOE loan guarantee controversies, which became issues for candidates in the 2012 United States Presidential Election . His congressional testimony highlighted the cost-effectiveness of clean energy stimulus funding and noted that

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3528-573: The UK. According to the Common Minimum Standards for governmental construction, an environmental assessment is required on all public projects and further states that, "where BREEAM is used, all new projects are to achieve an 'excellent' rating and all refurbishment projects are to achieve at least 'very good' rating." In 1998, the US Green Building Council devised its own building certification system through

3612-860: The US, the District of Columbia consistently leads in LEED-certified square footage per capita, followed in 2022 by the top-ranking states of Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, California, and Maryland. Outside the United States, the top-ranking countries for 2022 were Mainland China, India, Canada, Brazil, and Sweden. LEED Canada has developed a separate rating system adapted to the Canadian climate and regulations. Many U.S. federal agencies, state and local governments require or reward LEED certification. As of 2022, based on certified square feet per capita,

3696-573: The USGBC's Energy and Atmosphere Technical Advisory Group for LEED technology have included Gregory Kats . The LEED initiative has been strongly supported by the USGBC Board of Directors, including Chair of the Board of Directors Steven Winter (1999–2003). The current chair of the Board of Directors is Anyeley Hallová (2023). LEED has grown from one standard for new construction to a comprehensive system of interrelated standards covering aspects from

3780-462: The application of LEED guidelines in several southern states. In 2013, the states of Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi effectively banned the use of LEED in new public buildings, in favor of other industry standards that the USGBC considers too lax. LEED is considered a target of a type of disinformation attack known as astroturfing , involving "fake grassroots organizations usually sponsored by large corporations". Unlike model building codes, such as

3864-400: The architect and the engineer and documented in the official construction drawings, and the construction application, under the purview of the building contractor and documented during the construction and commissioning of the building. A fee is required to register the building, and to submit the design and construction applications. Total fees are assessed based on building area, ranging from

3948-474: The benefits promised." The LEED for Homes rating system was first piloted in 2005. It has been available in countries including the U.S., Canada, Sweden, and India. LEED for Homes projects are low-rise residential . The process of the LEED for Homes rating system differs significantly from the LEED rating system for new construction. Unlike LEED, LEED for Homes requires an on-site inspection. LEED for Homes projects are required to work with either an American or

4032-469: The building and construction industry and advance sustainable building principles. USGBC was further responsible for the creation of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system in 1998. The integration of energy usage, materials performance and other building-related environmental issues, along with an aim towards standardizing the comparison of assessments led to more comprehensive building assessment methods. With

4116-494: The building industry to support green building and develop a green building rating system. Also influential early on was architect Bob Berkebile. Fedrizzi served as the volunteer founding chair of USGBC from 1993 to 2004, and became its CEO as of 2004. As of November 4, 2016, he was succeeded as president and CEO of USGBC by Mahesh Ramanujam. Ramanujam served as CEO until 2021. Peter Templeton became interim president and CEO of USGBC as of November 1, 2021. A key player in developing

4200-607: The building itself, and does not take into account factors such as the location in which the building stands, or how employee commutes may be affected by a relocation. In Green Metropolis (2009), Owen discusses an environmentally-friendly building in San Bruno, California , built by Gap Inc. , which was located 16 miles (26 km) from the company's corporate headquarters in downtown San Francisco , and 15 miles (24 km) from Gap's corporate campus in Mission Bay . Although

4284-570: The building's energy and water use for five years after occupancy (for new construction) or date of certification (for existing buildings). The credit weighting process has the following steps: First, a collection of reference buildings are assessed to estimate the environmental impacts of similar buildings. NIST weightings are then applied to judge the relative importance of these impacts in each category. Data regarding actual impacts on environmental and human health are then used to assign points to individual categories and measures. This system results in

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4368-403: The carbon emissions associated with the additional miles driven were almost three times higher than before, a change from 0.39 metric tons per person per month to 1.08 metric tons of carbon dioxide per person per month. Speck writes that "The carbon saved by the new building's LEED status, if any, will be a small fraction of the carbon wasted by its location". Both Speck and Owen make the point that

4452-659: The certification and the project conclusion. The Sweden Green Building Council introduced its own certification system in 2011 with Miljöbyggnad which is based on Swedish standards and legislations. It is currently in its 3rd iteration with Miljöbyggnad 3.1 released in April 2020. Miljöbyggnad has three levels of certification: Bronze, Silver and Gold. It is used to certify both new and existing constructions. It assesses 3 categories, namely: Among these categories, there are 15 further sub-categories which have its own set of requirements for each certification levels. For example, for

4536-427: The certification points), quality of life (25%) and conservation and ecological restoration (25%) in terms of five principles: decarbonization, ecosystems, equity, health and resilience. One of the reponses to public comments was to emphasize a data-driven approach to Operations and Maintenance by more clearly identifying performance-based credits (80% of points) and decoupling them from strategic credits (20%). In 2003,

4620-661: The city, cut flooding, mitigate climate change, improve public health, and advance equity. The report found that implementing Smart Surfaces in Baltimore would cut peak summer temperatures by five degrees Fahrenheit or more with a benefit-cost ratio of over 10:1. In 2014, Kats testified before the Israeli Cabinet about the opportunity for Israel to make large financial savings with health, security and strategic benefits by greening their buildings and infrastructure. Kats has been widely recognized for his contributions to

4704-670: The company added shuttle buses between buildings, "no bus is as green as an elevator". Similarly, in Walkable City (2013), Jeff Speck describes the relocation of the Environmental Protection Agency ' s Region 7 Headquarters from downtown Kansas City, Missouri , to a LEED-certified building 20 miles (32 km) away in the suburb of Lenexa, Kansas . Kaid Benfield of the Natural Resources Defense Council estimated that

4788-534: The creation of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification and subsequent updates; and co-founded the country's first green bank . In 2019, Kats founded and currently serves as CEO of the Smart Surfaces Coalition (SSC) , a 501c(3) organization with over 40 national and international partners including the American Public Health Association , National League of Cities , American Institute of Architects , and

4872-555: The design and construction to the maintenance and operation of buildings. LEED has also grown from six committee volunteers to an organization of 122,626 volunteers, professionals and staff. As of 2023, more than 185,000 LEED projects representing over 28 billion square feet (2.6 × 10 ^  m) have been proposed worldwide, and more than 105,000 projects representing over 12 billion square feet (1.1 × 10 ^  m) have been certified in 185 countries. However, lumber, chemical and plastics trade groups have lobbied to weaken

4956-444: The design basis for 130,000 units of green healthy affordable housing. For almost a decade, Kats has been driving the conversation about making the built environment – particularly in cities – resilient. In 2018, he co-authored the report, “Delivering Urban Resilience,” which concluded that an investment in “smart surface technologies” would result in an estimated half a trillion dollars in net financial benefits nationally. The report

5040-410: The economic aspects and as such, also assesses the associated Life Cycle Costs and Value Creation of the building. It has six assessment categories and further assigns different weights to each category indicator. The assessment is done by an auditor who is appointed by the project contractor. The auditor supports the contractor and supervises the construction process from the initial registration up to

5124-570: The example of debating whether to add a reflective roof, used to can counter "heat island" effects in urban areas, to a building high in the Rocky Mountains. A 2012 USA Today review of 7,100 LEED-certified commercial buildings found that designers tended to choose easier points such as using recycled materials, rather than more challenging ones that could increase the energy efficiency of a building. Critics such as David Owen and Jeff Speck also point out that LEED certification focuses on

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5208-563: The final loan default rate of the U.S. clean energy loan program would be less than half what the Office of Management and Budget had projected and budgeted for. Kats' analysis indicated that the default rate on the $ 16.1 billion Energy Department loan portfolio is less than 3.6 percent, well below the Office of Management and Budget forecast of 12.85 percent, and he determined that the actual default rate will not get out of single digits. Citing

5292-421: The financial objectives and successes of the program to date, as well as the related employment and national security benefits, Kats concluded that the largest risk is that the DOE slows its loan guarantee program. While at the U.S. Department of Energy, Kats recognized the challenge associated with enabling energy efficiency to become a more substantial industry. He played a lead role in developing and served as

5376-490: The global energy use and 39% of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions . Through certification, the associated environmental impacts during the lifecycle of buildings and other infrastructures (typically design, construction, operation and maintenance) could be better understood and mitigated. Currently, more than 100 building certifications systems exist around the world. The most popular building certification models today are BREEAM (UK) , LEED (US) , and DGNB (Germany) . In

5460-635: The green economy. In 2011, he was the recipient of the first U.S. Green Building Council President's Award, a lifetime achievement honor. Kats also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alliance to Save Energy in 2018 and was recognized as an Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects in 2022. Kats earned an MBA from Stanford University and, concurrently, an MPA from Princeton University on

5544-467: The importance of transportation access, open space, and outdoor physical activity, and the need for buildings and settlements to educate occupants. Buildings can qualify for four levels of certification: The aim of LEED 2009 is to allocate points "based on the potential environmental impacts and human benefits of each credit". These are weighed using the environmental impact categories of the EPA's Tools for

5628-581: The lead author of a major report on the opportunity that cities have to invest in "smart surface technologies" as a means of both improving public health and delivering financial benefits. Kats chairs the Congressionally established committee guiding the greening of 430,000 federal buildings, serves on the Mayor's Green Ribbon Committee guiding the greening of the District of Columbia, and served on

5712-584: The leading five states (after the District of Columbia ) were Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, California, and Maryland. Incentives can include tax credits, zoning allowances, reduced fees, and expedited permitting. Offices, healthcare-, and education-related buildings are the most frequent LEED-certified buildings in the US (over 60%), followed by warehouses, distribution centers, retail projects and multifamily dwellings (another 20%). Studies have found that for-rent LEED office spaces generally have higher rents and occupancy rates and lower capitalization rates. LEED

5796-439: The marketplace." Critics of LEED certification such as Auden Schendler and Randy Udall have pointed out that the process is slow, complicated, and expensive. In 2005, they published an article titled "LEED is Broken; Let's Fix It", in which they argued that the certification process "makes green building more difficult than it needs to be" and called for changes "to make LEED easier to use and more popular" to better accelerate

5880-587: The mid-1980s, environmental issues were in the news and public attention due to different international disasters such as the Bhopal disaster (1984), Chernobyl nuclear explosion (1986) and the Exxon Valdez tanker spill (1989). Lifecycle assessments (LCAs) were starting to gain traction from its initial stages in the 1970s to the 1980s and it was in 1991 that the term was first coined. With increasing cognizance of environmental impacts due to human activities,

5964-424: The option of achieving credit points by building energy models. One model represents the building as designed, and a second model represents a baseline building in the same location, with the same geometry and occupancy. Depending on location (climate) and building size, the standard provides requirements for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system type, and wall and window definitions. This allows for

6048-598: The principles of green building gaining momentum, several more GBCs were established across the world. In 2002, the World Green Building Council was officially formed to bring all the GBCs under one roof. GBCs from Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and USA were the founding members. As of 2018–19, there are 69 Green Building Councils under the World Green Building Council organization. The goal of all certification rating systems

6132-510: The steering committee, he led the effort to establish minimum energy performance and subsequently led the push to reweight LEED around climate change. He has chaired the USGBC 's Energy and Atmosphere Technical Advisory Group on LEED, and served on its LEED Steering Committee. Kats also served as lead advisor in guiding the development of Enterprise Green Comminutes the leading green low income healthy design and certification standard that serves as

6216-467: The tools, training, resources, and other assistance needed for cities to adopt smart surface, resilient infrastructure to better manage the sun and rain which falls on cities. These surfaces include cool/reflective surfaces (roofs, roads, and parking lots), urban trees , green roofs , permeable pavement , and solar PV . As of 2023 the Coalition has over 40 partner organizations with expertise across

6300-430: The transition to green building. Schendler and Udall also identified a pattern which they call "LEED brain", in which participants may become focused on "point mongering" and pick and choose design elements that don't actually go well together or don't fit local conditions, to gain points. The public relations value of LEED certification begins to drive the development of buildings rather than focusing on design. They give

6384-456: The type of the project. The different types of rating systems fall under: LEED certification is voluntary and a qualified assessor evaluates the projects on the basis of various established categories. These categories are as follows: The four levels of LEED certification are: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Certified. Gregory Kats Gregory H. Kats (born July 14, 1959) is an American businessman, environmentalist , and thought leader in

6468-407: The well-being of their occupants and as part of larger systems. In April 1993, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) was founded by Rick Fedrizzi , the head of environmental marketing at Carrier, real estate developer David Gottfried , and environmental lawyer Michael Italiano. Representatives from 60 firms and nonprofits met at the American Institute of Architects to discuss organizing within

6552-523: Was deployed in the build-out of San Francisco International Airport . Greg also Chaired the development of CarbonStar, a government-backed technical standard for quantifying the carbon intensity of concrete. He regularly testifies on clean energy green building and financial issues. From 2005 to 2010, Kats was Managing Director of Good Energies, a multibillion-dollar global clean energy PE/VC fund, where he led investments in smart grid , energy efficiency, green materials, and green building. He then served as

6636-431: Was depreciated for new projects registered from October 31, 2016. LEED v4.1 was released on April 2, 2019. Draft versions of LEED v5 have been released and revised in response to public comment during 2024. The official final version of LEED v5 is expected to be released in 2025. Future updates to the standard are planned to occur every five years. LEED forms the basis for other sustainability rating systems such as

6720-467: Was launched in 1990 by the UK-based organization Building Research Establishment (BRE). BREEAM certification is carried out on the basis of a scoring system where projects are assessed on the basis of 10 categories (with individual weightings differing by project type) as follows: Each category is sub-divided into a range of assessment indicators, each having its own aim, target and benchmarks. When

6804-458: Was launched in partnership with the USGBC , National League of Cities , and American Institute of Architects , among others, and has received national attention. The findings from "Delivering Urban Resilience" highlighted the importance, cost-effectiveness, and feasibility of broad Smart Surface adoption in cities, and in 2019 Kats founded the Smart Surfaces Coalition to further study the impacts of Smart Surface adoption in cities and to provide

6888-431: Was opened for the revised version, from September 27 to October 28, 2024. The official release of the final version of LEED v5 is expected to occur in 2025. Future updates of the certification system are planned to occur every five years. LEED v5 reorganizes the credits system and prerequisites, and has a greater focus on decarbonization of buildings. The scorecard expresses three global goals of climate action (worth 50% of

6972-483: Was recognized as an American Institute of Architects Honorary Member for his contributions to the field. AIA notes that “through his steadfast commitment to green design, Kats has supplied countless architects with the economic evidence to convince clients to embrace sustainability. Without his work, there’s no doubt that architects would face fewer opportunities than they do today.” In response to Congressional investigations in 2011 and 2012, Kats testified three times to

7056-557: Was the Principal Advisor in designing and establishing Enterprise Green Communities , the national low-income green design standard that has served as the design basis for over 50,000 housing units to date. He recently helped design the World Bank's large new green building financing program. Kats served as a leader in the creation of LEED and served on its steering committee for the first six years. During his tenure on

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