"In Canada, greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 30% since 1990 and buildings are responsible for 30-40% of these emissions and up to 50% when including embodied energy in building materials. Green building design, construction and operation can reduce these impacts by 50% or more with current technology and know-how. If implemented on an urban scale, greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced even further.
CaGBC Business Plan 2007"
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.
LEED is a third-party certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. It provides building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance.
LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health:
sustainable site development
water efficiency
energy efficiency
materials selection
indoor environmental quality
Certification is based on the total point score achieved, following an independent review and an audit of selected Credits. There are four levels of certification: certified, silver, gold and platinum.
The Canadian rating system is an adaptation of the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED Green Building Rating System, tailored specifically for Canadian climates, construction practices and regulations. The rating system is adapted to the Canadian market through an inclusive process that engages stakeholders and experts representing the various sectors of the Canadian industry.
Why Certify?
A rapidly-growing number of private sector organizations and governments are adopting LEED certification in their policies, programming and operations, with the goal of achieving and demonstrating sustainability. The reasons for certifying include:
Gain recognition for green building efforts
Validate achievement through third party review
Qualify for a growing array of government incentives
Contribute to a growing green building knowledge base
sources:
http://edmontonindustrial.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/going-green-will-cost-you-5/
Tom Brown - Civil Engineering
http://yourenergyoptions.com/sitemanager/spaw/image1/LEED%20savings%20better.JPG
