On the heels of the delay of LEED 2012, the USGBC announced that the organization has certified more than 20,000 LEED for Homes units since the residential program launched in 2008. Moreover, about 51% of all certified homes qualify as affordable housing, and about 79,000 LEED for Homes units are in the pipeline right now.
The process to adopt the next version of LEED has been pushed back according to an announcement by USGBC President and CEO S. Richard Fedrizzi earlier this week. The change means LEED 2012 (now being called LEED v4) will likely not be brought up for a vote on adoption until the middle of next year.
The new standard has already been through four comment periods, with the credit language and the manner in which credits would be evaluated under discussion. There have been revisions in each of these comment periods. A fifth comment period is now scheduled for this fall (October 2 – December 10) and the actual balloting on adoption of LEED v4 is expected to begin June 1, 2013.
We’re in a $17 billion market for new green homes, so it makes sense that the USGBC and Home Depot would team up to make green building products more accessible. Today, the USGBC and Home Depot announced a new database – available through LEEDHomeDepot.com – currently listing more than 2,500 products that contribute towards LEED for Homes certification.
I’ve pulled together projects, mostly homes, of all kinds — new, old, modern, traditional, etc — that we discussed in the last year. These projects either obtained or sought LEED Platinum certification from the USGBC, and they’re some of the greener homes you’ll find most anywhere. Click the links below for hours and hours of reading.
Greenbuild 2011 marked the first international Greenbuild Conference and Expo, driving the importance of a global solution to sustainability. It was also, quietly, the 10th annual Greenbuild, where was that celebration? While the mood was upbeat, we were also alongside over 23,000 leaders of the green building industry, or as Thomas Freidman put it in his opening plenary (31:00 in), the dumb ones who keep on fighting for a green revolution!
At Greenbuild, the USGBC presented the 2011 LEED for Homes Awards, recognizing projects, developers, and home builders who have demonstrated leadership in the residential building marketplace. An independent panel of judges decided on a diverse selection of these single-family, multifamily, affordable, and development projects:
