USGBC invites all member company primary contacts to vote on the proposed draft of LEED 2009. The draft includes LEED for New Construction, Core and Shell, Schools, Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance and Commercial Interiors with future plans to incorporate other LEED rating systems into the structure.
Overview
Continuing to strike the optimal balance between market uptake and technical advancement is one of the driving forces behind LEED 2009. Much has been invested in the current LEED rating system and a concerted effort has been made to ensure that LEED 2009 capitalizes on the existing market momentum while addressing the needs of LEED users. Consequently, the LEED Steering Committee has created a LEED structure that will be familiar to those versed in the current rating system. Most of the structural and technical changes incorporated into LEED 2009 were designed to create a rating system that can be part of a continuous improvement cycle.
LEED 2009 is not a "tear down and rebuilding" of LEED, but rather a reorganization of the existing rating systems along with several key advancements. LEED 2009 consists of prerequisite and credit alignment and harmonization, transparent environmental and human impact credit weighting, regionalization, and a predictable development cycle. Prerequisite and credit alignment and harmonization has enabled USGBC to organize and administer LEED in a new way. The LEED "bookshelf" is an organizational structure that will be used to administer the rating system. This framework allows credits and prerequisites to be housed uniformly across multiple rating systems where possible. The rating systems that are currently undergoing USGBC member ballot are outputs of this bookshelf organized in a way that will be familiar to LEED users. Changes currently under development for LEED Online are envisioned to update the way project teams access LEED, but the credit, prerequisite structure and mix of credits remain the same. Since the LEED bookshelf is an organizational framework and not a change to the requirements in LEED it is not part of the ballot process. Additional information about LEED Online will be available in the coming months.
Member Ballot
The USGBC is seeking member approval to release LEED 2009 for use. The member ballot is the final step in the process used to develop, test, evaluate, revise and publish LEED rating systems and credit mandates. Your organization is strongly encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to contribute to the evolution of LEED.
Period for Vote
In accordance with the USGBC Balloting Procedures, the ballot period will be open for 30 days from Tuesday, October 14th through Friday, November 14th at 5:00 PM EDT.
In order to pass, LEED 2009 needs to reach a quorum of 10 percent of USGBC members and two-thirds affirmative votes.
Who can Vote
All USGBC member organizations in good standing are entitled to one (1) vote. Your organization's primary contact is the only individual from your company permitted to represent your organization in this vote. According to the USGBC Bylaws, liaison organizations are not eligible to vote. To identify the primary contact for your organization, visit the USGBC Member Directory to enter the name of your organization. If you are not the primary contact for your organization and are receiving this email, please contact us at leedinfo@usgbc.org.
Each member organization may vote to approve with or without comments, disapprove with comments, or abstain. There is no option to disapprove without comment. You may view comments and responses from the public comment periods below. USGBC is not required to respond to comments submitted during the ballot. Once a ballot is cast it cannot be modified.
How to Vote
To vote on the LEED 2009, please click here.
Documents for Ballot
To view the documents that are up for USGBC member ballot, please click on the link below.
LEED 2009 Draft Rating Systems for Ballot
More Information
LEED 2009 Public Comments & Responses
LEED 2009 Final Scorecards
Supporting Documents
LEED 2009 Vision & Executive Summary
Credit & CIR Alignment
Weightings
Regionalization