The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System^® has brought all sectors of the building industry together to develop a voluntary, national standard in the development of “high-performing, sustainable buildings.” PIMA supports this approach, and was one of the first trade associations to join USGBC when that organization opened its doors to industry groups.

According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED provides a complete framework for assessing building performance and meeting sustainability goals. LEED emphasizes state of the art strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Increasingly, architects, specifiers and building owners are being tasked with the challenge of creating high performance buildings. To do so they must look to high performance building materials such as polyiso. Due to its high thermal efficiency, zero ozone depleting potential and negligible global warming potential, polyiso is an ideal choice for LEED building design. As recognized for its environmental benefits by Environmental Building News, polyiso roof insulation can help building owners, architects and specifiers gain credits under three of LEED’s six rating categories including:

• Energy and atmosphere
  
• Materials and resources
  
• Innovation and design process
  

For suggested opportunities to incorporate polyiso in a LEED building design, see the Advisory on LEED and Polyiso.

For more information on LEED, please visit www.usgbc.org.

LEED – Canada

The Mission of the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) is to accelerate the design and construction of green buildings in Canada. They are a broad-based inclusive coalition of representatives from different segments of the design and building industry.

The Council works to:

• change industry standards,
• develop best design practices and guidelines,
• advocate for green build

In response to market demand, the CaGBC is updating the LEED® Canada Green Building Rating System to address existing as well as new buildings, include all building types, and streamline the process to lower costs and shorten the time required for certification. The next generation of LEED Canada will be web-based, and incorporate actual performance-based energy and water efficiency credits. In order to speed the program’s launch the Council will piggyback on the LEED For Homes’ ongoing pilot project in the US. According to Canada Green Building Council vice-chair Andrew Pride, "We're going to take the US program and make it Canadian."

Through this initiative, the CaGBC is integrating LEED tools for new and existing buildings, harmonizing prerequisites and credits, and supporting best practices at all stages of a building’s life cycle from initial planning to disassembly.

For more information on LEED, please visit: www.cagbc.org/.