October 2, 2009

Canada Green Building Council to release LEED ratings update

Easily earned credits to become mandatory

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

The Canada Green Building Council is poised to launch an updated version of its flagship LEED Canada rating system for New Construction (NC) and Major Renovations.

Mark Hutchison, LEED program director, says the new system will still be “very familiar” to those who have worked with the current version, which was introduced in 2004.

There are still five categories where credits are awarded: sustainable site development; water efficiency; energy efficiency; materials selection; and indoor environmental quality.

But Hutchison, who oversees development and delivery of LEED green building rating systems within Canada, says improvements are in the works with regard to integration of information contained in application and reference guides, credit weightings and the certification process itself. The new version is to be launched later this fall.

Hutchison says the LEED Canada NC rating system has been “enhanced” over the years with development of application guides for specific building types such as multi-unit residential buildings.

These documents provide guidance and alternative pathways to help specific project types comply with the rating system.

Hutchison said the council has received “hundreds of requests” regarding interpretation of credits. “All of this material is being integrated into the LEED Canada NC 2009 reference guide, he says. “This will make it far easier to synthesize and understand all the information.” Other improvements are:

• Adjustments to the credit weightings: The number of points each credit is worth is being adjusted to better reflect the credit’s environmental impact.

• Regional priority points: The new rating system will include four points that can be earned for measures that are of special importance in the region in which the building is being constructed.

• Faster certification process: The new rating system will eliminate one of the three reviews required on each project. This should reduce the time it takes to certify buildings.

• Updated requirements for some credits: The council will introduce new alternatives for achieving credits. Some thresholds have increased while others have been lowered.

“If a credit was achieved by the majority of projects, we considered tightening the thresholds,” Hutchison says. “For example, 97 per cent of projects currently achieve a 20-per-cent reduction in water use. In LEED Canada NC 2009 this is going to become a prerequisite.”

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