USGBC® and related logo is a trademark owned by the U.S. Green Building Council®
The U.S. Green Building Council® (USGBC) is the drivinig force of a green building industry that is projected to contribute $554 billion in the U.S. gross domestic product from 2009-2013. USGBC brings together a diverse constituency of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofit organizations, elected officials, concerned citizens, teachers, and students. USGBC is the developer and administrator of the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building certification program and the convener of the Greenbuild® International Conference & Expo.
LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building, home, or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
First launched in 2000, the LEED rating systems are developed through an open, consensus-based process led by LEED committees. The version of LEED that most projects are currently registered under is called LEED 2009. The most recent update of the LEED rating system, LEED v4, was the next step in the continuous improvement process and ongoing development cycle of LEED and was launched at Greenbuild 2013. Through June 2015 projects that register for LEED certification will have the option of using LEED 2009 or LEED v4; after June 2015 projects can only register under LEED v4.
Learn more about LEED
LEED organizes credits under a number of broad categories which vary somewhat by rating system and version. The credit categories most relevant to EcoTimber products are:
Materials & Resources (MR)
During both the construction and operations phases, buildings generate a lot of waste and use large quantities of materials and resources. The Materials & Resources category encourages the selection of sustainably grown, harvested, produced and transported products and materials. It promotes waste reduction as well as reuse and recycling, and it particularly rewards the reduction of waste at a product’s source.
Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans spend about 90% of their day indoors, where the air quality can be significantly worse than outside. The Indoor Environmental Quality category promotes strategies that improve indoor air as well as those that provide access to natural daylight and views and improve acoustics.