Archinect - News

What's new in LEED v5? Steering Committee chair Anica Landreneau explains

2024-10-22T18:36:00-04:00

HOK’s Anica Landreneau, the chair of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Steering Committee, has sat down for an in-house interview published by the firm in a preview of the changes contained in the LEED v5 update. The new changes align with the Paris Agreement, AIA 2030, MEP 2040, SE 2050 and ASLA 2040 plans.

"The top priority is rapid decarbonization to address the urgency of the climate crisis. Approximately half of the 110 points for achieving LEED v5 certification is based on decarbonization," she explained. "That represents a much greater emphasis on decarbonization than ever before. Then a quarter of the points focus on biodiversity, ecology and the natural world, which promotes resilience but also the survival of all species on the planet. Another quarter of the points focus on human health and well-being—the quality of life and the human experience."

The LEED v5 is designed for use between 2025 and 2030.

You can learn more about the most common environmental certificatio...

Tributes paid to design and sustainability champion Lance Hosey, who has died at 56

2021-09-06T14:16:00-04:00

Tributes have been paid from the architecture and design community to design and sustainability champion Lance Hosey, who passed away on August 27th at age 56. Hosey was the Chief Impact Officer at HMC Architects, and an acclaimed author and public speaker. In 2015, Hosey became one of only 30 people to have been named as a Fellow of both the American Institute of Architects and the U.S Green Building Council.

Throughout his career, Hosey wrote two books and hundreds of essays on design innovation. During his time at HMC, who he joined in June 2020, he oversaw the firm’s design and sustainability ethos, leading strategies to improve the impact of the firm’s work, and mentoring young designers. Before his time at HMC, Hosey was a Director at William McDonough + Partners, a principal at Gensler, and a Chief Sustainability Officer at both RTKL Associates (now Callison RTKL) and Perkins Eastman.

Beyond his core roles in practice, Hosey contributed significantly to the design indust...

USGBC launches new indoor environmental quality guidance in response to COVID-19

2020-06-09T16:08:00-04:00

As the nationwide effort to reopen American businesses, universities, and other facilities gets underway, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has launched a new set of guidelines and metrics for ensuring that these re-opening activities "leverage LEED" expertise to "support buildings and communities in a post-pandemic world."

According to USGBC, "The strategy is guided by the idea that prioritizing the health of people, communities and the planet is the fastest way to rebuild a healthier, more sustainable economy."

As part of the group's new "economic recovery strategy" guidance for post-COVID-19 re-occupation, USGBC offers four new LEED credits tied to retrofitting existing spaces for post-pandemic use and adaptation.

The credits touch on the topics of cleaning and disinfecting, indoor air quality, water systems, and general re-occupancy.

USGBC embraces "regenerative" approach, LEED certification for existing buildings

2019-11-20T18:00:00-05:00

At the recent Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Atlanta, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) unveiled its vision for the new LEED Positive initiative, a vision that embraces a series of subtle changes to the group's approach to building certification standards.

Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of USGBC, writes in a press release, "LEED must evolve qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitatively, it must transition from strategies that reduce the harm done by buildings to strategies that cause no harm and are regenerative by design, ensuring our buildings are actually giving back more than they take. And quantitatively it will need to accelerate and increase its impact ten to a hundred-fold."

The refined perspective means that LEED will now place an added focus on requiring "new construction to go further" as an industry-wide effort to decarbonize the building sector gets off the ground. The program will also "push existing buildings with high energy usage to su...

Former President Barack Obama to keynote 2019 Greenbuild International Conference

2019-08-29T19:59:00-04:00

Former President Barack Obama will deliver the keynote speech at the 2019 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo this year in Atlanta, Georgia.

The conference is organized by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), and bills itself as "the only event genuinely dedicated to sustainability in the built environment, from the sessions we present to the products on the show floor to the way the event is produced," according to its website.

Mahesh Ramanujam, president & CEO of USGBC, said via press release, “President Obama is a global leader and a long-time friend of the green building community. While in office, his administration negotiated the landmark Paris Climate Accords, expanded the impact of our field and helped open the door for energy efficiency investments in both the public and private sectors," adding, "I know that when he joins us on the keynote stage in November, he will impart his ideas, passion and vision to our growing global green building family.”

Th...

USBGC seeking input on the future of LEED

2019-07-15T19:25:00-04:00

The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced a call for proposals to solicit feedback and concepts for the next version of LEED certification standards.

According to the announcement, the organization is looking to expand and improve upon its recently completed suite of LEED v4.1 rating systems. Aside from focusing on lowering carbon emissions and improving energy and water efficiency ratings like previous editions of the LEED certification guidelines, LEED v4.1 makes an appeal to the growing building wellness movement by also emphasizing "health and well-being of the people who live, work, learn and play in these buildings, cities and communities every day."

Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of USGBC explained in a prepared statement that LEED v4.1 "has allowed us to become more agile and adaptable to incorporate real-time feedback so that we can realistically raise the bar on the marketplace."

Ramanujam added, "Building on this success, we are excited to enga...

Ohio Looks at Banning LEED

2013-11-23T12:37:00-05:00

[U]nlike some other states that have moved to ban the use of LEED in public projects this year, [...] the Ohio resolution, SCR 25, takes on LEED v4 directly, asserting that LEED v4 should no longer be used by Ohio state agencies and government entities and that the state's Office of Energy Services begin an immediate review of alternative rating systems, codes, and standards.

Citing LEED's failure to adhere to "recognized voluntary standard development procedures," such as ANSI, the resolution makes a move to ban the use of LEED for its government buildings because of LEED's apparent lack of openness, transparency, and scientific basis in the development of its green building rating system standard. The USGBC has recently had to face similar challenges in other states including North Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.

Architecture for Humanity Announces Strategic Partnership with The Center for Green Schools, U.S. Green Building Council

2013-03-12T19:02:00-04:00

Architecture for Humanity announced their strategic partnership with the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The announcement comes in conjunction with today’s release of the Center for Green Schools 2013 State of our Schools Report, which calls for the federal government to commission the first comprehensive study of our nation’s school facilities needs in 18 years. Together the two groups hope to join others in eliminating our nation’s deferred school maintenance bill through implementation of school improvement projects, addressing financing and providing tools to educators. The report estimates that $271 billion is needed to bring existing school buildings up to code – double that amount if we are to modernize schools - and that further research is needed to clarify how and where this investment should be targeted.

About 50 million students attend nearly 100,000 public elementary and secondary schools across the United States. One in four stu...

U.S. Green Building Council Announces $3 Million Grant from Google

2012-11-14T17:30:00-05:00

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced today, on the main stage at its annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, a $3 million grant from Google that will catalyze the transformation of the building materials industry and accelerate the creation of healthier indoor environments.