Contract - September 2011 - (Page 16)

industry news Previewing LEED® 2012 USGBC is in its draft process for LEED® 2012, with proposed new credits and prerequisites The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is proceeding with its process to update its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) green building certification system. USGBC just completed the second public comment period for its next update to the rating system, coined LEED 2012. Due to release by Greenbuild in November 2012, LEED 2012 will have some key changes and updates. Ashley Katz, media manager at USGBC, describes the changes that are now in draft form for LEED 2012. With the growing prevalence of green codes and the increased uptake of LEED certification globally, continuous evolution for LEED is necessary. Building on the LEED 2009 foundation, LEED 2012 will include further alignment and weighing of LEED credits, and will place increased emphasis on integrative process and building performance. Credit Category Integrative Process (new category) The credits are intended to reward project teams that gather data, conduct analyses, and develop an understanding of the issues critical to the design of a project. It rewards teams seeking to achieve high performance before design and building form, interior form, and program systems decisions are made. Location & Transportation The Sustainable Sites category, renamed Location & Transportation, will evolve to help develop a meaningful connection between a building or space and its surrounding community. Water Efficiency In the Water Efficiency category, users will find more clarifying language. Credit language clarifies thresholds and tiers, and calculations referenced in the rating system will be more easily translated into submittal materials. New Credit or Prerequisite • Discovery: integrative analysis of potential project sites • Implementing synergies • Appliance and process water-use reduction (prerequisite) • Additional fixture and fitting water-use reduction • Sustainable wastewater management • Additional appliance and process water-use reduction • Environmentally preferable non-structural products and materials—prescriptive attributes • Avoidance of chemicals of concern in building materials • Responsible sourcing of raw materials • Construction indoor air quality management plan (now a prerequisite) • Enhanced indoor air quality strategies • Acoustic performance • Tenant-level energy metering (prerequisite) • Advanced energy metering Energy & Atmosphere The Energy & Atmosphere credit category will hold true to the goal of increased stringency in energy efficiency, while opening up pathways for projects that are meeting credit intents. Water Efficiency Materials & Resources The Materials & Resources section strives to transform manufacturing processes and product selection to encourage the use of holistically improved products having human health and environmental benefits. This is encouraged through rewarding reduction in material use, shifting toward non-depleting material resource cycles, rewarding transparency in product ingredients and material sourcing methods, and incentivizing the development of third-party verification programs. And all materials will be addressed comprehensively, with wood being incorporated into this new framework of requirements related to sourcing and extraction, avoiding chemicals of concern, and the use of lifecycle assessment tools and environmental product declarations. Materials & Resources Indoor Environmental Quality Performance (new category) Users of the LEED for Interior Design & Construction rating system will notice some fundamental shifts in LEED 2012, most notably the introduction of two new credit categories—Integrative Process and Performance. They’ll also notice that the Sustainable Sites category will become Location & Transportation. Here’s a look at how the credit categories themselves have evolved in the drafts of LEED 2012. Environmental Quality The Environmental Quality category will undergo significant structural reordering to streamline the credit category and more effectively addresses overlapping goals of the former credits. Achieving the Environmental Quality credits will have more direct benefit to occupants by comprehensively addressing environmental quality impacts. Integrative Process The Integrative Process credits seek to answer the question, “how can we achieve an integrative result that augments performance and maintains cost in a simplified way that is replicable and measurable?” Performance LEED’s new Performance category will reinforce a focus on preparation for and continuation of high-performance systems, and operations of both building and site. —Ashley Katz 16 contract september 2011 www.contractdesign.com http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - September 2011

Contract - September 2011
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Product Briefs: Sustainable
Product Focus: Here Comes the Sun
Product Focus: Cream of the Crop
Memory Museum
Triple Threat
Mission Sustainable
Model of Sustainability
Desert Oasis
LEED by Example
Cooking Light
Trends: The Resilient Workplace
Ideas: Chair History
Designers Select: Boardroom Furnishings
Sources
Ad Index
Perspectives: Steven M. Davis, Faia, Aedas

Contract - September 2011