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The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the opening of the first public comment period for the council’s LEED for Neighborhood Development green-building rating system. The program is the first national certification system for green neighborhood design and development, the organization says.
The proposed rating system is the result of a collaboration the USGBC, the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and integrates the principles of smart growth, new urbanism, and green building, the USGBC said.
The council began pilot testing of LEED for Neighborhood Development in early 2007, and accepted nearly 240 pilot projects into the program, representing 39 states and six countries. The rating system will evaluate projects on criteria related to smart location and linkage to the community at large; neighborhood pattern and design; and green construction and technology.
“The development of LEED for Neighborhood Development speaks to the breadth of what green building means,” said Sophie Lambert, director of LEED for Neighborhood Development, U.S. Green Building Council. “What was once a rating system solely designed for commercial construction, LEED is now evolving beyond single buildings to address development at the neighborhood scale.”
The public-comment phase for LEED for Neighborhood Development opened on Nov. 17 and will run until Jan. 5, 2009. Those interested in viewing the draft LEED for Neighborhood Development and submitting comments online are advised to visit the website located at www.usgbc.org/LEED/LEEDDrafts/RatingSystemVersions.aspx?/CMSPageID=1458.
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