USGBC Accepting Comments on Energy Performance Points Until March 23

-- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 3/15/2007 11:18:00 AM

The United States Green Building Council encourages the public to comment on the first draft of its language requiring all Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects to obtain a minimum of two points in the Optimize Energy Performance credit.

This proposal is part of USGBC’s Climate Action commitment, which was announced at the 2006 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Denver last November. The commitment is to focus on and increase the role of green buildings in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The changes would apply to the four currently available rating systems: LEED for New Construction, LEED for Existing Buildings, LEED for Commercial Interiors, and LEED for Core and Shell Developments. 

Any member of the public can comment on the draft requirement (after registering a site user profile on the USGBC website). The public comment period continues through Friday, March 23, midnight Pacific Standard Time. USGBC will respond to all comments, and post the comments and responses (without commenter names or organizations) to the USGBC website. If changes are made to the draft requirement, a second public comment period will be conducted on those changes. The resulting draft will then be sent to the USGBC membership for balloting.

Visit the the USGBC website for more information and to partcipate.