By now you may know that the much anticipated release of LEED 2012 has been postponed. Introduced last November at the Greenbuild Convention, LEED 2012 was supposed to replace LEED 2009 V3 at this year’s convention. Because of so many major changes, and a great deal of excellent feedback from the membership, USGBC made the wise decision to push back the release of this next version for another year and refer to it as LEED V4 rather than LEED 2009.
There are two major implications of this delay.
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Current projects qualify under LEED 2009. If you start a project this year, it will qualify for certification under LEED 2009, and may even be allowed to qualify under LEED 2009 into 2014. Contact us if you need help determining whether to apply under LEED 2009 or LEED V4. LEED V4 will have more, and different, requirements for sure, but we can generally assume that there will be additional payback as well.
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There will now be another public comment period, from October 2 to December 10, 2012. Whether you’re a building owner or developer, an architect or an engineer, a contractor or a manufacturer, this gives you another opportunity to be heard. Take advantage of it. Watch the USGBC website for further developments and for how to make your voice heard.
In addition, this delay gives those in the green building and sustainability industry more time to adjust and prepare for the new guidelines. We will post updates on our website, as well as on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
