Washington, DC (May 15, 2008) – With its introduction in 2000, the LEED Green Building Rating System helped to spark a revolution, articulating a new set of integrated, measurable goals that changed the way we approach the design, construction and operation of our offices, schools, hospitals and homes. Over the past eight years, the U. S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has moved it steadily forward, evolving the way we measure and rate building performance and doing so against a backdrop of increasing urgency to find solutions to climate change and energy dependence.

Since buildings account for fully 39% of US C02 emissions, that sent the issue of dramatically improving building performance to the top of USGBC’s agenda in 2006. It was clear that incremental change to how LEED functions wasn’t enough. Instead, we needed to reframe our focus towards driving significantly greater outcomes in total building performance while, at the same time, incorporating technical advancements such as bioregional credits that would enable LEED to continue to evolve as a better, more refined tool for green building.

The USGBC Board of Directors voted unanimously to send out for public comment on Monday, May 19, LEED 2009, a new version of the rating system that delivers against key environmental and human health impacts, and puts in place a transparent framework for weighting credits accordingly, based on the best available science. It is the product of thousands of hours of volunteer time and deep expertise generously given by representatives from every corner of the building industry.

LEED 2009 resets the bar for green building leadership because the urgency of our mission has challenged the industry to move faster and reach further than ever before. LEED 2009, coupled with an expanded third-party certification program and significant enhancements to LEED Online, make up a multi-faceted initiative that we refer to as LEED v3. You will be hearing more specifics about all these changes over the next few months, which will include the fruition of an initiative to integrate LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) into LEED credits.

Attached is the memo to the USGBC Board of Directors that the LEED Steering Committee prepared that provides the framework and background on what the public comment process entails. On Monday, May 19, the public comment process will be open for 30 days, from Monday, May 19 through June 22 at 5 pm Pacific Time. Visit www.usgbc.org for on-going information.

To learn more about USGBC and their expo, visit www.greenbuildexpo.com or www.usgbc.org.