The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is a point rating system
devised by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to evaluate the environmental performance of a building over its life cycle and to encourage market transformation towards sustainable design. This voluntary system is credit-based, allowing projects to earn points for environmentally friendly construction of a building and its site. LEED was launched in 1999 in an effort to develop a “consensus-based, market driven rating system to accelerate the development and implementation of green building practices.”
LEED is the nationally recognized benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED provides building owners and operators with the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability
by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable sites, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
Rain Bird Quick Guide to LEED (PDF: 361 KB)