The Suit Magazine

 The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), partnering with the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council, has developed a new green rating system called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Neighborhood Development.  The USGBC said “benchmark for green neighborhood design,” has intergraded “the principles of smart growth, new urbanism and green building and benefi[t] communities by reducing urban sprawl, increasing transportation choice and decreasing automobile dependence, encouraging healthy living, and protecting threatened species.”

    The LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system, created by the USGBC in 2000, is a groundbreaking concept.  All seven of the USGBC’s rating systems are based on single building projects, but the LEED for Neighborhood Development project is the first system that incorporates the fundamental and environmental concerns of a community.  Marie Coleman, the Communications Associate for USGBC, said that this is the only rating system, to her knowledge, that has been designed for communities and caters to the specific needs of an entire neighborhood.  “It’s very different than our other rating systems because the other commercial rating systems are based on how a single building performs, how it functions, or how it’s designed,” Coleman added, “whereas the neighborhood rating system takes into account certainly the building aspect, but also the transportation and infrastructure in a community, proximity to public transportation, goods, services, and other amenities.”

    LEED’s rating system is on a 110-point scale. Coleman said that this LEED project, like the others, has to achieve a minimum number of points within specific environmental credit categories in order to become certified.  The categories in the LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system, however, differ from categories normally utilized by the USGBC.

    The first category, “smart location and linkages,” covers the location of the development in terms of its proximity to other neighborhoods and amenities.  “The most green and sustainable way to go about this would be to be located in and around an existing community that has amenities nearby,” Coleman said. “But certainly there are areas that have not been developed, and so this would be an opportunity for developers to use the rating system.”

    The second category, “neighborhood pattern and design,” deals with the layout of the neighborhood.  Coleman illustrated this concept with specific examples, saying that city centers, residential and commercial facilities, trees, schools, and walkable streets were all part of the neighborhood’s design and function.  The focus, according to Coleman, is how people who live within the community will be able to interact with that community’s resources.

    The final category, “green infrastructure and buildings,” is concerned with navigation within the community, as well as the environmental efficiency of the community’s facilities.  This category requires that there must be at least one Green-certified building within the neighborhood.  Coleman said that energy and water efficiency, in terms of infrastructure, are a top concern as well.   
By implementing these three categorical standards within the rating system, the USGBC hopes to achieve certain goals and instill a more environmentally aware attitude within community living.  Coleman said that one of the main concerns of the project was to reduce environmental issues, like automobile dependence, that occur with “urban sprawl,” or the idea of building outward from a central city or neighborhood.  “LEED for Neighborhood Development certainly wants to help mitigate [sprawl] by creating communities that have all the amenities that you need to get to, and the idea is that hopefully you don’t have to drive to get to those places.”  Coleman feels that access to public transportation, interconnectivity of the community, and close proximity between homes and local facilities that provide jobs and resources will create an economically thriving, resourceful, and sustainable neighborhood.

    In terms of maintaining an environment-friendly community, Coleman envisions true potential in certain developing technologies.  Coleman said the example of storm water management, or being able to capture and reuse rain or storm water instead of using the municipal water supply to water landscapes, which could potentially conserve the water supply and utilize natural resources in a smart way.  Another example she cited was a shuttle or other source of public transportation to help people get to and from outlying communities, which would further decrease dependence on automobile use.

    Coleman hopes the USGBC’s newest LEED project contributes to the lasting effects the Green revolution has presented.  “It’s been astounding to see over the last couple of years how every day Americans have really moved forward with embracing environmentalism,” she said.  “We’d love to see other organizations embrace this and develop new ways to continue being green, sustainable, and taking into consideration the larger impacts of our community.”
   

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