What is LEED?
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is the certification program by the U.S. Green Building Council. The USGBC is the only non-profit organization in the country that certifies commercial green building projects, and the demand for its seal of approval is growing rapidly. Building owners not only see the monetary value of building green in terms of reduced costs and perceived higher property values, and the health benefits for employees, but the public relations value is sometimes worth the effort by itself.
It is certainly possible to build a green project without jumping over all the LEED hurdles but there’s no other program that carries such a highly visible and accepted seal of approval.
No doubt, one of the greatest challenges of LEED is planning and managing all the additional details. These projects require complete dedication to the goal or it is easy to get derailed.
LEED Commercial
The trend in commercial construction is to jump on the LEED bandwagon. McGraw Hill Construction predicts that by 2010 as much as 10% of all commercial construction will be green. Nine states have implemented mandatory LEED requirements and more are sure to follow.
Flooring products can only make a minimal contribution toward LEED certification because of the way the projects are scored. Nevertheless, any kind of flooring can fit easily into most LEED projects. And over the course of a large project, all those small differences can add up.
The LEED point system is organized around environmental goals, not specific products. There’s no such thing as a LEED-certified product. However, in order for any building materials, including flooring to help a project qualify for LEED credits it has to carry a LEED recognized certification from a third-party testing or validation service. But there aren’t many of those.
Scientific Certification Systems is the most notable certification agency and every approved product is in its online database.
According to USGBC, more than 80% of projects in LEED programs are awarded points for indoor air quality. Three sections covering this issue apply to flooring. They address coatings, sealers and adhesives for all kinds of flooring products.
Carpet in the one flooring category that can earn a LEED point all by itself. It simply has to meet the requirements of the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Green Label Plus certification, or carry the SCS Sustainable Choice certification. It doesn’t matter how much carpet is in the project, but it all has to meet the standard.
Other kinds of flooring can help earn a point when installers use adhesives and sealers that carry FloorScore certification. Thee certification verifies that the level of volatile organic compounds falls into a particular range for each product. All adhesives and sealers used on a project must carry the certification, or none of it counts.
Composite wood products such as laminate and engineered hardwood can help earn a point if they are certified to contain no urea-formaldehyde.
LEED for Homes
Residential green building is likely to gain traction over the next few years. LEED released its guideline in January, targeting the top 25% of new homes. However, USGBC is getting some direct competition from the National Association of Home Builders, which is putting its own program in place.
Four level of certification are available and flooring makes its greatest contributions in materials and air quality. However, for this certification, LEED has developed a list of environmentally preferable products. Linoleum, cork, bamboo, FSC-certified wood, sealed concrete and what’s called “recycled-content flooring” all qualify.