Last month in part one, we began to take a look back at what's been happening concerning the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED green building rating/certification program. We saw how the statement made at the November 2004 Greenbuild International Conference in Portland, Ore., by the USGBC's President Rick Fedrizzi "If it's not LEED, it's not green," generated much controversy as did two comprehensive reports and a user survey of the LEED program in its first five years of existence. This month, we'll review the new LEED offerings.
November 2004 was to be a significant turning point in the world of "Building Green" and the USGBC's LEED program. As discussed in part one, the number of LEED-AP's soared from 9,000 to more than 19,000 due to the implementation of a new, more challenging exam for LEED-AP's (many sought accreditation under the old exam). The original LEED certification program (aka "product") was LEED new construction. Henceforth, LEED-NC will be referred to as LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations but will retain the acronym "NC" only. At Greenbuild '04, the USGBC announced the introduction of two new LEED programs: