by Brianna Crandall — June 5, 2013—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced on May 30 that nearly 100 building projects across the globe are already using LEED v4, the next version of the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building program, by participating in the LEED v4 beta testing program. The global projects represent a variety of building types, including schools, universities, healthcare facilities, office spaces and residential buildings.
The beta project teams are helping USGBC validate and improve LEED v4 implementation and testing support resources such as reference guide content and LEED Online forms. USGBC’s goal is to fine-tune the LEED user experience during this beta period, before LEED v4 launches this fall, based on suggestions and input from the beta project teams.
LEED v4 builds on the fundamentals of the past while offering a new system that prepares all LEED projects in a portfolio to perform at a higher level. Considered more practical than its predecessor, LEED v4 also provides a new suite of time-saving support tools designed to help streamline the certification process and make it easier for LEED users to accomplish their goals.
“I appreciate that the new LEED reference guide incorporates all the different documents,” said Chloe Bendistis, Sheward Partnership, working on Humanscale’s San Francisco office and showroom and two projects with University Place Associates in Philadelphia, including its new headquarters. “The LEED v4 reference guide includes campus guidance, district thermal energy guidelines and scenarios that might impact retail, healthcare or hospitality. It’s helpful to have all of these pieces together in one place.”
LEED v4 opened to USGBC members for a 30-day ballot period beginning June 1, and it is expected to publicly launch this fall at USGBC’s annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. In addition to making continuous updates to maintain the system’s rigor and cutting-edge approach, USGBC has made improvements on the LEED v4 customer experience for which the organization was awarded a Bronze Stevie Award.
These customer service improvements include:
- Reducing the number of LEED submittal forms to simplify the certification process;
- Creating credit documentation and calculators, to be available via USGBC’s Credit Library;
- Developing LEED reference guides in a variety of formats, including a forthcoming and entirely new Web-based reference guide that will include online tutorials, videos and other useful resources to help project teams implement LEED;
- Scaling up the size and expertise of its LEED certification review team, managed by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), which is responsible for assessing the quality of LEED certification applications and materials and granting LEED certification;
- Growing the LEED certification review team to include licensed engineers, architects and other specialty building professionals; and
- Significantly investing in LEED Online to streamline and increase the reliability of the user interface, the central online portal for submitting documentation for LEED certification.
The LEED v4 beta currently is open, and USGBC is encouraging additional projects to sign up. To register, contact Chrissy Macken.
