The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced Tuesday it will delay balloting "LEED 2012," the next-generation rating system of the popular green building guidelines, until June 2013. As a result, USGBC has changed the name of the guidelines to "LEED v4."
Log in to view the full article
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced Tuesday it will delay balloting "LEED 2012," the next-generation rating system of the popular green building guidelines, until June 2013. As a result, USGBC has changed the name of the guidelines to "LEED v4."
USGBC said it was delaying voting on LEED v4 "in response to concerns raised by members, core LEED users and stakeholders, and in an effort to provide the marketplace a view of the full LEED program experience prior to ballot." The group also indicated that it could potentially ballot LEED v4 earlier if members and the green building market can agree on the new guidelines sooner.
According to GreenSource.com, the move resulted from "a growing outcry from architects and other building industry professionals" who had three main concerns: 1) The proposed changes were too much, too fast, especially in a weak market; 2) Some changes required more refinement, especially in the Materials & Resources category; and 3) Means to achieve the new credits would not be widely available by November 2012, when the new system was slated to launch.
For instance, Mark Collatz, director of government relations with the Adhesive and Sealant Council (ASC), expressed concern to USGBC about its inclusion of Europe's REACH program for monitoring chemicals in LEED v4. "We have seen three drafts of USGBC LEED 2012 before the 4th revision, and none of the previous drafts mentioned REACH in any way, shape or form," Collatz said, adding that ASC doesn't see the need for U.S. manufacturers to comply with a European regulation if they sell most of their products in North America.
Now, USGBC said it plans to keep registration for LEED 2009 open for three more years, and it will continue seeking public input on LEED v4, starting with a fifth public comment period to open Oct. 2 and close on Dec. 10. Also, USGBC will hold public forums and educational sessions at Greenbuild 2012 San Francisco, which will run Nov. 14-16.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was supportive of USGBC's decision to delay balloting LEED v4. "The Forest Stewardship Council applauds this decision, which was driven in large part by strong input from sustainable design leaders and others who called for more time to refine and test the new standard," FSC said in a release. Furthermore, FSC pointed out that the Certified Wood credit, based on use of FSC-certified wood, will remain in effect until 2015. FSC said the credit "has been one of the single most significant conservation policies ever."
"This is 100% in response to our members' desire that we give them a bit more time to absorb the changes in this next version of the rating system," said USGBC President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi. "We want to do everything we can to ensure that the market can fully embrace LEED v4 because it represents significant progress on carbon reduction and human health."
