LEED, is a globally recognized symbol of excellence in green building. LEED certificaton ensures electricity cost savings, lower carbon emissions and healthier environments for the places we live, work, learn, and play. The program's global sustainability agenda is designed to achieve high performance in key areas of human and environmental health, acting on the triple bottom line - putting people, planet, and profit first.
LEED, which is one of the largest voluntary programs for green building, operates off a 4 tier setup; certification, silver, gold, and platinum. Platinum, which is the highest level of certification a building can achieve requires at least 80 points on the LEED scale.
Impacts on LEED are measured across the following categories; Integrative Process, Location and Transportation, Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation, and Regional Priority. They are broken down into options for potential points for the project team to achieve.