Energy and water requirements from the Living Building Challenge will now be accepted within the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.
The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC’s) LEED steering committee made the approval to create harmonization between environmental building systems. Over the last few years, the council has made efforts to streamline LEED requirements to better complement existing rating systems around the world.
“USGBC, the International Living Future Institute, and developers of the Living Building Challenge share a common commitment and goal to transform the way we design, build, and operate our buildings,” said Scot Horst, chief product officer of USGBC. “The Challenge plays an important role on the green building performance curve and is a complement to LEED.”
A similar change occurred in 2012 when USGBC announced it was going to recognize energy credits from the United Kingdom’s Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) in all applications for LEED certification.
