10 Key Insights into the LEED Ratings System

Adopting eco-friendly practices to contribute to environmental preservation is a commendable effort. Beyond simple actions like recycling, using compact fluorescent light bulbs, and saving energy, what other steps can you take? Many individuals pursue LEED certification for their homes as part of this green movement. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), administered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is a certification that recognizes buildings with minimal environmental impact. You can achieve LEED certification for your home by making enhancements in any of the USGBC's nine key categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, locations and linkages, awareness and education, innovation and design, and regional priority [source: U.S. Green Building Council].

Whether you're retrofitting an existing home to be more eco-friendly or constructing a green home from scratch, attaining LEED certification is no simple task. The requirements are precise and comprehensive. Any contractors or builders you hire must adhere to these guidelines and provide mathematical calculations and documentation to demonstrate compliance. The LEED system is based on a series of prerequisites (mandatory standards) and credit points. Prerequisites are non-negotiable standards your home must meet to qualify for certification. Credit points are awarded for a variety of voluntary improvements. Points are granted for actions ranging from achieving energy efficiency goals to preserving local vegetation. These points accumulate to determine your certification level. A minimum of 40 points is required for certification, with higher levels awarded for more points. Homes earning 50-59 points achieve Silver status, 60-79 points earn Gold, and 80+ points receive Platinum. The maximum possible points is 110 [source: U.S. Green Building Council].

What changes and enhancements can you make to your home to become eligible for LEED certification? Keep reading to learn more.

10: LEED Credits Can Be Specific to Your Region

LEED is an internationally recognized certification, but recently, the USGBC has incorporated region-specific credits to address local environmental concerns. The introduction of "regional priority credits" in 2009 marked a significant update to the LEED rating system [source:U.S. Green Building Council]. These credits offer up to four additional points for home improvements that address environmental issues specific to your area [source:U.S. Green Building Council]. For instance, in rural areas, landscaping that helps prevent erosion into irrigation water sources could earn bonus points. In sunnier regions like the southeastern U.S., installing solar panels might qualify for extra credits. These specialized credits apply not only to the 50 U.S. states but also to Puerto Rico and international projects.

9: Indoor Environment Matters, Too

While LEED aims to reduce building-related pollution, it also considers indoor air quality. You may be surprised to learn that LEED rewards points for improvements that enhance the interior air quality of a building. For example, adding air filtration and moisture control systems to minimize molds and allergens can earn you points. Other guidelines focus on health and safety, such as ensuring HVAC vents don’t connect garages to living spaces and installing exhaust vents in kitchens. Additionally, there are comfort-related prerequisites, like ensuring even heating and cooling throughout the house for LEED-certified homes [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. You may wonder what comfort has to do with environmental impact, but according to the USGBC, poor indoor air quality can be as harmful to health as outdoor pollution [source: U.S. Green Building Council].

8: Location, Location, Location

When applying for LEED certification, location matters. Bonus points are available based on the placement of your home (or its existing location if it's a renovation) in relation to other buildings, neighborhoods, and infrastructure. For instance, your home earns points if it is within a half mile of water and sewer lines, which can minimize the need for additional infrastructure and preserve land [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. Points can also be earned if the home is situated close to other neighborhoods, communities, or clusters of buildings.

This might seem unusual. Isn't one of LEED's objectives to limit the destruction of natural environments? Yes, but denser construction allows for more walking and better access to eco-friendly transportation like buses and trains [source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]. LEED also includes provisions to prevent certain environments from being disturbed. Homes can earn points if they are not located in floodplains, near wetlands, endangered species habitats, or on reclaimed park land. Additionally, any "no disturbance zones"—areas where no trees or plants can be disturbed—on the property will contribute to LEED credits [source: U.S. Green Building Council].

7: ENERGY STAR Standards

All LEED-certified homes must comply with ENERGY STAR standards to meet program requirements. ENERGY STAR, a program developed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, sets voluntary energy efficiency standards for homes. To qualify as an ENERGY STAR home, your property must be 20 to 30 percent more energy-efficient than the average house [source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]. Homes can achieve this efficiency through various measures, such as installing superior windows and insulation, which reduce energy use by keeping interiors cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Additionally, there are ENERGY STAR-certified appliances and light bulbs that use less power. Extra points can be earned if your LEED home's energy performance exceeds ENERGY STAR's minimum standards [source: U.S. Green Building Council].

6: Educate Your Tenants

"Awareness and Education," one of the nine categories in the LEED guidelines for green homebuilding, may seem unrelated to environmental conservation. However, the standards reward efforts to inform tenants or buyers on how to maximize a LEED home's sustainability and energy efficiency. If you work with a LEED builder or developer, the home can receive points if they provide information on maintaining energy efficiency over time. For example, the builder could offer guidance on operating the rainwater recycling system and reducing household water use [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. If you're renting out your home, you can earn similar points for making these efforts.

The logic behind these credits is straightforward: A property is only as environmentally friendly as the way it is utilized [U.S. Green Building Council]. ENERGY STAR appliances, no matter how advanced, won’t save energy if the user runs a full washing machine cycle just to wash a single shirt. Similarly, heat-trapping windows and insulation become irrelevant if the homeowner keeps the heater running all winter with windows left wide open.

5: Conserve Building Materials

Recycling and conserving resources are familiar practices for most people. However, the idea of conserving construction materials often goes unnoticed. LEED guidelines, however, span every phase of a home's life, including the construction process itself. Builders seeking LEED certification must minimize waste of framing and building materials, including beams, studs, and roofing materials [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. The limits on waste are stringent, with specific maximum allowable waste for each type of material. For instance, no more than 5 percent of studs used can be wasted, and roof decking waste must be avoided entirely [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. The total allowable material waste cannot exceed 8.3 percent of the construction materials budget [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. If pursuing LEED certification for new construction, ensure your builder understands the critical importance of material conservation.

4: Control the Urban Heat Island

The urban heat island effect might sound like the premise of a comic book or a dystopian science fiction movie, but it’s actually a real phenomenon. Due to the high concentration of concrete, metal, stone, and other materials that absorb significant amounts of sunlight, urban areas are typically hotter than rural or suburban ones with more green space [source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]. LEED standards address this effect by awarding points for employing various methods to reduce excess heat. For example, driveways, sidewalks, and patios can be constructed using special "high-albedo" materials, which reflect – rather than absorb – most of the sunlight that hits them [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. An albedo is a unit used to measure how reflective a material is, and high-albedo materials are those that reflect the majority of sunlight they encounter [source: Taha].

Your home can still earn points without using high-albedo materials. Instead, you can strategically place plants and trees to shade reflective areas. As with most LEED standards, the requirements for this shade are precise and mathematically complex. To earn the points, at least 50 percent of reflective surfaces must be shaded. This shading must be calculated for the day when shadows are smallest, specifically on June 21 at noon, when the sun is directly overhead [source: U.S. Green Building Council].

3: Say Goodbye to Your Lawn

LEED standards not only focus on a home’s structure but also its landscaping. The guidelines emphasize how much grass is included in the landscape. Maintaining a lush green lawn requires significant water, and LEED offers credits to homes that minimize "conventional turf" (i.e., grass lawns) [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. The points awarded depend on the percentage of grass coverage in your yard. For lawns covering 20 percent or less, you can earn three LEED points. No points are awarded if the turf covers more than 60 percent of the yard [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. Additionally, grass cannot be planted in shaded areas or on steep slopes. To qualify for points, all grass must be drought-tolerant, and the USGBC recommends using mulch and other plants to cover the remaining areas [source: U.S. Green Building Council].

2: Use Recycled Water

Water conservation is a key aspect of the LEED guidelines, offering various methods to earn points for water recycling and conservation. One option is to collect rainwater by installing troughs and barrels to capture runoff from your roof. This rainwater can be used to water plants or even for drinking, once properly filtered. Points can also be earned by installing a gray water recycling system at your home [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. Gray water is non-potable water from sources like washing machines, sinks, and showers, which isn't safe for drinking [source: Barker]. Like harvested rainwater, gray water can be used to irrigate plants, or you can recycle it to make it drinkable. Although installing these systems can be expensive, the long-term savings on utility bills can make up for the cost. In some areas, there are even municipal gray water systems that you can connect to, earning you certification points as well [source: U.S. Green Building Council].

1: Think Outside the Box

The LEED guidelines are thorough, complex, and cover a wide range of measures aimed at enhancing a home’s environmental sustainability. This list only scratches the surface, as the guidelines meticulously track hundreds of factors that contribute to a greener home.

In addition to following the standard LEED guidelines, you can also earn points for unique green improvements that go beyond what is officially listed. The program reserves up to six bonus points for environmentally friendly innovations that exceed LEED's established standards [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. Coming up with groundbreaking new ideas for eco-friendly construction may not be feasible for everyone, and even builders or contractors might lack the necessary experience unless trained in green building practices. If you’re aiming for the highest LEED certification level but are unsure how to go above and beyond, you can hire LEED-accredited professionals. These experts are trained in environmental construction and technology, and hiring one can help you secure the bonus points and save time inventing new energy-saving solutions [source: U.S. Green Building Council].