LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is one of the most widely used green building certification system. It dates back to 1998, when it was founded by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council) in the USA. Since 2000 some 140.000 projects have been certified under LEED resulting in a well-developed and reliable framework which continuously keeps up the pace with technological upgrades, trends and innovations. At the moment, it is the 2nd most widely used certification framework after BREEAM in Central Europe including Hungary.
USGBC is a non-profit professional organization founded in 1992, USA. It has a wide member group with cca. 15.000 entities around the world which are representing the whole spectrum of the construction industry.
Buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation.
Transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life.
LEED as well as USGBC is driven by the main principle called triple bottom line. It means the analyses and optimization according to the 3 pillars of: financial, social, environmental. Through this, LEED and its framework is fully in line with the widely known sustainability goals, furthermore, it significantly contributes to the ESG related considerations.
There are 3 primarily used green building certification frameworks in Hungary: BREEAM, LEED and WELL. Considering the number of certified buildings LEED is second to BREEAM only.
LEED is favored for many reasons, among others its ability to tackle both the wellbeing of building users and the environmental impact of the building at the same time. It lays down many various goals and intents through its requirements (called credits), however, it allows for a significant freedom for the designers, the project team on how they can achieve those goals. It has a great and user-friendly customer service specialized on the professional questions that is ready to help the teams out in any difficulties.
In addition to acquiring the certification itself, the buildings and their owners/operators can enjoy the followings gains as well:
Higher quality indoor air (healthier air, higher comfort & user satisfaction for building users) => lower employee retention and health associated costs
Decreased energy and water consumption => significant cost reduction
Decreased CO2 emissions
More conscious waste handling and management
Operation cost decrease
Higher market value of the building (lease, rent, sale)
EU Taxonomy compliance
Significant PR value for both the building and companies associated with it
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