Bulletin board made of wood and blackboard for Earth Day.

Happy Earth Day! At GBES we like to celebrate Earth Day every day by helping green building industry professionals earn their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credentials. LEED credentialed professionals make communities more sustainable, healthier, and less impactful on the environment with LEED certified projects. An astounding seven million square feet of construction space is LEED certified daily.

Here are five ways LEED is making every day Earth Day

  1. The LEED process encourages building owners to make sustainable changes to their properties. Renewable energy and water saving measures mean lower operating costs and fewer emissions!
  1. LEED projects are responsible for diverting more than 80 million tons of waste from landfills. Huge quantities of waste are generated during building demolition and construction, as well as during their daily operations. LEED Rating Systems reward projects that reduce the amount of waste being sent to the landfill through recycling, reuse, or other diversion methods.
  1. LEED Gold buildings consume 25 percent less energy and generate 34 percent lower greenhouse gas emissions than average commercial buildings. The Energy and Atmosphere category within the LEED rating system deals with building energy. During the design phase this energy is estimated in an energy model; during building operations energy consumption is measured in the EPA?s ENERGY STAR benchmarking program.
  1. LEED-certified buildings have improved indoor environmental quality for occupants by keeping out harmful chemicals and materials and bringing in fresh air and daylight. LEED points are available for increased air filtration, air quality testing, and regular preventative air quality inspections.
  1. LEED-certified buildings reduce stress on the environment by encouraging energy and resource-efficient buildings. In general, LEED-certified projects use less energy, consume less water, maintain higher levels of indoor air quality, send less waste to the landfill, and encourage building product manufacturers to develop options with recycled content and fewer harmful chemicals.

Source:

http://leed.usgbc.org/leed.html