The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has opened the first public comment period for the first draft of LEED v5.
The new version of the LEED green building rating system will drive deep decarbonization, quality of life improvements, and ecological conservation and restoration, USGBC says. New emphasis will be placed on:
• Decarbonization: Focus on reductions of all significant sources of emissions: operational, embodied, refrigerants and transportation.
• Quality of life: The use of human-centric strategies to improve health and wellbeing, resilience, and equity and inclusion for building occupants and their communities.
• Ecological conservation and restoration: Emphasis on strategies and actions that can be implemented at the individual asset level to limit environmental degradation and contribute towards the restoration of ecosystems.
LEED v5 emphasizes impact, alignment, and interconnectedness to support initial and ongoing sustainability efforts throughout a building’s lifecycle. LEED v5 Operations + Maintenance puts existing buildings on a path to decarbonization and ties Platinum-level certification to near-zero carbon operating emissions.
LEED v5 Building Design + Construction provides a framework for new buildings to reach near-zero carbon emissions operationally by 2050 on a decarbonized grid. At the Platinum level, new buildings will be poised to achieve near-zero carbon operationally and embodied carbon reductions today.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
New book provides energy efficiency guidance for hotels
Recommendations on achieving 30% energy savings over minimum code requirements are contained in the newly published Advanced Energy Design Guide for Highway Lodging. The energy savings guidance for design of new hotels provides a first step toward achieving a net-zero-energy building.
| Aug 11, 2010
Turner Building Cost Index dips nearly 4% in second quarter 2009
Turner Construction Company announced that the second quarter 2009 Turner Building Cost Index, which measures nonresidential building construction costs in the U.S., has decreased 3.35% from the first quarter 2009 and is 8.92% lower than its peak in the second quarter of 2008. The Turner Building Cost Index number for second quarter 2009 is 837.
| Aug 11, 2010
Turner, Structure Tone top BD+C's ranking of the 50 largest office contractors
A ranking of the Top 50 Office Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
AGC unveils comprehensive plan to revive the construction industry
The Associated General Contractors of America unveiled a new plan today designed to revive the nation’s construction industry. The plan, “Build Now for the Future: A Blueprint for Economic Growth,” is designed to reverse predictions that construction activity will continue to shrink through 2010, crippling broader economic growth.
| Aug 11, 2010
PCL Construction, HITT Contracting among nation's largest commercial building contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 50 Commercial Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants