LEED v4 Fifth Public Comment Period
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LEED v4 FIFTH PUBLIC COMMENT: OCT 2 - DEC 10, 2012
The hallmark of LEED is its consensus based development process and continuous improvement. Guided by the market and shaped by stakeholder feedback, LEED undergoes a number of public comment periods before the final document is balloted by USGBC's membership. Once a LEED rating system passes ballot, it is ready to be launched to the market.
LEED v4 entered its fifth public comment period on October 2. This fifth public comment period addresses a small subset of credits within LEED v4 that are not yet finalized; not all of the LEED v4 credits are open for comment. Everyone is invited to review the drafts and submit comments.
WHAT'S NEW
Impact categories: USGBC developed new impact categories to align more closely with the vision of LEED. These categories go beyond the categories used for LEED 2009 that were based on limiting damage; instead the LEED v4 categories emphasize the potential for projects to contribute positively to their communities and to the planet. The impact categories, shown below, serve as the driver for determining the technical requirements of the rating system. Additionally, the impact categories are used to assign points to each credit. Projects have incentives to pursue higher-pointvalued credits and higher certification levels and achieve better environmental, economic and social outcomes.