The USGBC created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System for the purpose of providing a national standard for what constitutes a "green building." LEED was accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 2006. It's a holistic approach to sustainability.

THE RATING SYSTEM
It's based on accepted energy and environmental practices, and is built around a point system, with specific points available in six distinct categories:

Category - New Construction    Points
1. Sustainable Sites                    14
2. Water Efficiency                       5
3. Energy & Atmosphere             17
4. Materials & Resources            13
5. Indoor Environmental Quality   15
6. Innovation & Design                 5
Total Possible Points              69

In addition, there are four levels of LEED building certification:
LEED Certified 26 - 32 points
LEED Silver 33 - 38 points
LEED Gold 39 - 51 points
LEED Platinum 52 – 69 points

Three versions of LEED available:
1. LEED-NC for New Construction and Major Renovations.
2. LEED-CI for Commercial Interiors applies to tenant improvements.
3. LEED-EB for Existing Buildings applies measured performance.

THE CASE FOR GREEN BUILDING
Green buildings use an average of 36 percent less energy than conventional buildings, with corresponding reductions in CO2 emissions.

Studies show that, on average, buildings that have been certified green by the LEED rating system, cost 2 to 3 percent more than conventional construction - and the investment is paid back in full within the first year based on energy savings alone.

Water conservation, reductions in construction waste, and effective storm water management generate significant operational savings for the buildingowner, while reducing the demand on municipal infrastructures.

Anecdotal studies demonstrate that people in green buildings have fewer incidents of colds, flu and asthma; patients in green hospitals are discharged as much as two and a half days earlier and kids in green schools increase their test scores by as much as 18 percent.

HOW TO GO GREEN
1. Register your project. Projects enroll in LEED by registering their intent with USGBC and paying a fee of $450. Project certification fees are approximately $0.03 per square foot, and average about $4,500.

2. Track progress and document achievements. Your team assigns a project administrator that serves as the primary project liaison between the USGBC and your project team. LEED-Online allows the project administrator to collaborate, share information and resources and track progress toward certification goal.

3. Get certified. The LEED certification process is paperless - all documentation and payment can be submitted to USGBC via the Web using LEED-Online. Teams can submit the documentation in two phases: The design phase to get feedback and to ensure that the project is on track for its goals and at the project's conclusion. A team of expert certifiers will review your project's documentation and a final LEED rating will be awarded within 30 to 90 days.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

1. Start early and use integrated design.
2. Get a LEED reference guide.
3. Hire a LEED accredited professional.

THE CHALLENGE: WHAT IS GREEN BUILDING? WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?
Green Building - A building that provides the specified building performance requirements while minimizing disturbance to and improving the functioning of local, regional, and global ecosystems both during and after its construction and specified service life.

Sustainability - The ability of society to continue functioning into the future without being forced into decline through exhaustion or overloading of the key resources on which that system depends.

In a perfect world, the Green building movement would have a database in which the life-cycle environmental impacts of different materials would be fully quantified and the impacts weighted so the designer could easily see which material was better from an environmental standpoint. We are not close to realizing such a database. Often, you'll be comparing apples to oranges. You may be trying to weigh the resource extraction impacts of one product with the manufacturing impacts of another and the indoor air quality impacts of a third. Hence the need to start early and employ the services of a LEED accredited professional.

It is important to remember that a green building is not merely the sum of the green products included in the project. In commercial building or even in a house, a great many materials and products will be used. Even in the greenest of projects, it is likely that many products will be used that are not themselves green - but they are used in a manner that helps reduce the overall environmental impacts of the building.

Creating a green building means matching the products and materials to the specific design and site to maximize the overall environmental impact.

The following are examples of green products and materials.

EVALUATING THE GREENNESS OF PRODUCTS
As we stated, a building's LEED Certification is dependent on site selection and design as well as construction and the materials used to build it.

Green products fall under one of these categories:

1. Recycled - post or pre-consumer.
2. Content - water-based low use of Volatile Organic Compound.
3. Design - products included in efficient energy usage.
4. Environmentally sensitive - vegetation roof and parking to minimize runoff, the use of solar energy and HVAC efficiency.
5. Manufacturing process sensitive to environmental issues. Especially, lumber and rebar mills.
6. Manufacturing source located relative to the jobsite. Within 500 miles to minimize transportation pollution and fuel usage.
7. Sustainability.

THE ROLE OF WHITE CAP
You can build Green without regard for LEED accreditation.

Green products when used as a component of these categories, Materials and Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality are LEED compliant and may help accumulate credits necessary to earn LEED points.

The goal is to match products and materials to building design so that the overall environmental impact is minimized as much as possible.

Construction product manufacturers and builders are in the early stages of the Building Green movement. Our objective is to be on the forefront of advancements,innovations and certification methods.

White Cap can supply Green products, but becoming a LEED Certified building involves many factors beyond our control.

LEED is a certification system that deals with the environmental performance of buildings based on overall characteristics of the project. The USGBC does not award credits based on the use of particular products but rather upon meeting the performance standards set for in its rating system. It is up to project teams to determine which products are most appropriate for credit achievement and program requirements.

It is projects (buildings) NOT products that are LEED Certified.

If any of these products are transported over 500 miles to the jobsite, they may lose their LEED certification potential.

Products Green by function may not qualify for an IdeallyGreen designation. These products are called FUNCTIONALLY GREEN.

Resources:

Within White Cap:
Rik Gagnon
rikgagnon@whitecap.net

United State Green Building Council (USGBC) for up-to-date information including Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED).
usgbc.org

HD Supply is a member of USGBC. This includes White Cap.

GreenSpec product directories:
buildinggreen.com

Reduce the amount of raw materials and energy needed for manufacturing. Lighter or smaller products generally require less energy to transport, store and construct.

Recycle discarded material into new products or choose new materials that could be used in other ways later. These often reduce raw material consumption and energy use as well as landfill waste in the future.

Renew the environment by using materials that can be regenerated easily or that offer other environmentally friendly benefits.

These qualities are important in their own right. But in the context of sustainability, materials are chosen not only for what they are made of, but also for their embodied energy. Embodied energy is the amount of non-renewable energy required to extract, manufacture and transport a building product. This consideration must be factored into all green product specifications, as it can have significant impact on sustainable design.