MEASURING GREEN

United States Green Building Council
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit organization committed to creating a sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. The mission of the USGBC is to transform the way buildings are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life. The USGBC developed the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system in 2000.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System
LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. Developed by the USGBC through a consensus-based process, LEED serves as a tool for buildings of all types and sizes. LEED certification provides independent third-party validation that a building project meets the highest green building and performance measures. To date, there is more than 4.5 billion square feet of construction space involved with the LEED system.

LEED certification is available for all building types including:

• New Construction & Major Renovation
• Existing Construction
• Commercial Interiors
• Core & Shell
• Schools
• Retail
• Healthcare
• Homes
• Neighborhood Development

The Pasadena Convention Center is going to be certified under the LEED for New Construction Ratings system.

LEED is a point-based system where projects earn points for satisfying specific green building criteria. With each of the six LEED credit categories, projects must satisfy particular prerequisites and earn points. The number of points the project earns determines the level of LEED Certification the project receives.