The US Green Building Council (USGBC) has approved new guidelines for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for commercial, which will be introduced in 2009.
The new version of the building certification programme, LEED 2009, will give more weight to factors that affect energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. Extra points will also been given to buildings that deal with local environmental conditions such as low water use features in dry regions.
LEED 2009 will also incorporate a rating system specifically aimed at retail premises, from shops to restaurants to banks.
“Retailers have become strong adopters of LEED, recognizing the need to green their space in order to convey their corporate values to their customer,” says Doug Gatlin of the USGBC.
And finally, LEED guidelines for neighbourhood development – which expands the scope of the rating system from single buildings to larger scale projects – has also just opened for comment.