The U.S. Green Building Council will now recognize energy and water requirements from the Living Building Challenge within the LEED green building program.
This move means that projects achieving the energy and water requirements in Living Building Challenge will be considered as technically equivalent to LEED.
“The Challenge plays an important role on the green building performance curve and is a complement to LEED,” said Scot Horst, chief product officer, USGBC. “The LEED steering committee approved this approach. In the world of rating systems there is a sense of competition between systems, and what we’re saying is that what matters is that people are doing good environmental work. We want to focus on them and create harmonization between systems.”
USGBC took a similar step in 2012, when it said it would recognize energy credits from Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) International, the United Kingdom’s green-building rating program, in applications for LEED certification.
Related Stories
Sustainability | Jun 28, 2017
Mohawk College will have one of the region’s first net-zero energy institutional buildings
The project’s net-zero goals led to the development of a new curtain wall system.
Building Team | Jun 27, 2017
Bruner Foundation announces 2017 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence gold and silver medalists
The SteelStacks Arts and Cultural Campus in Bethlehem, Pa., receives the gold medal and $50,000.
Green | Jun 23, 2017
Want a healthy building? Follow this primer on two new wellness standards
Since its development in the 1990s, the LEED rating system has been applied to over 19.1 billion total commercial square feet.
Codes and Standards | Jun 21, 2017
World Green Building Council: All buildings must be net zero by 2050 to avert 2°C rise
Building efficiency essential to tempering global climate change.
Green | Jun 16, 2017
Could this become London’s greenest building?
Curl la Tourelle Head Architecture wants to create a school powered by the River Thames.
Green | Jun 15, 2017
45-meter spiraling tower lets you walk above the trees
A 600-meter treetop path culminates with a 45-meter-tall spiraling observation deck.
Green | Jun 14, 2017
After Paris: What’s at stake for the building industry
In the wake of President Trump’s unilateral decision to withdraw the U.S. from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, many in the building industry have optimistically pointed to unstoppable market forces pushing the sector towards a post-carbon future.
| Jun 13, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Next-gen materials for the built environment, Blaine Brownell, Transmaterial
Architect and materials guru Blaine Brownell reveals emerging trends and applications that are transforming the technological capacity, environmental performance, and design potential of architecture.
Office Buildings | Jun 8, 2017
Take a look at the plans for Google’s new 1 million-sf London campus
Heatherwick Studio and BIG are designing the 11-story building.
| May 30, 2017
Accelerate Live! talk: Health-generating buildings, Marcene Kinney, Angela Mazzi, GBBN Architects
Architects Marcene Kinney and Angela Mazzi share design hacks pinpointing specific aspects of the built environment that affect behavior, well-being, and performance.
