by Rebecca Walker — November 24, 2010—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the launch of LEED for Retail, its newest green building rating system, and the LEED Volume Program, a program designed to meet the certification needs of high-volume property developers. The programs were unveiled at the USGBC’s Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in Chicago, Illinois.
The LEED for Retail rating system recognizes the unique design and construction needs of this market sector, enabling forward-thinking retailers to integrate green building design, construction and operation into ground-up construction, retail interior and build-out projects.
Nearly 100 national and independent retailers and franchisees, including Bank of America, Best Buy, Chipotle, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Kohl’s, LL Bean, McDonald’s, Pizza Fusion, Starbucks and Target, have participated in the pilot program since its launch in 2007, providing valuable feedback to inform the development of the rating system.
Also launched at Greenbuild was the LEED Volume Program, a certification program that was created to streamline and make the LEED certification process faster and more manageable for high-volume property developers such as national retailers, hospitality providers and local, state and federal governments. Utilizing a prototype-based approach, the program enables large-scale organizational builders to deliver a consistent end product, thereby earning LEED certification faster and at a lower cost than would be possible with individual building reviews.
In 2011, USGBC will introduce Volume certification for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance. To learn more about LEED for Retail and the LEED Volume program, see the Web site.
