The number of green building rating systems on the market has increased over recent years but LEED remains the standard for sustainable best practice.
That is according to Mercedes Byers and Oleksandra Onisko of Pratus Group, a full-service sustainability and energy management firm focusing on buildings. The Toronto-based company works extensively with LEED.
Among its peers, LEED is “the most popular, most marketable…easily adapted, accessible and ever-evolving rating system,” Onisko told an audience at a Buildings Show seminar on the relevance of LEED going forward.
However, as other green rating systems gain a foothold, more of the Pratus Group’s clients have been questioning LEED’s relevance. As a case in point, Ontario’s energy code “is fairly stringent” and incorporates sustainability measures. Isn’t that enough? Some developers are asking, Onisko said.
The many new rating systems and sustainability standards have their place.
“The most progressive of them all tackles sustainability through the lens of regeneration,” Onisko said.
But most of them have a narrower focus than LEED.
Among the other green rating systems are WELL, the Toronto Green Standard, Fitwel, Passive House, Living Building Challenge, Envision, the CaGBC’s Zero Carbon standard and Green Globes.
“With so many options on the table, it can be very confusing if you are not continuously immersed in the green building space,” the seminar speaker said.
Onisko and Byers identified the main sustainability aspects of various rating systems as energy, carbon, water, indoor environment, site health and materials.
LEED isn’t perfect. It addresses all of the above factors for new and existing buildings, except carbon. But the U.S. Green Building Council has recognized carbon as an important gap in LEED and is aiming to incorporate it into the new version, LEED v4.1, to be released soon, said Onisko. The only other system to address all of the important sustainable factors in buildings is the Living Building Challenge.
LEED can be applied to almost any type of building in the world. It is in more than 165 countries and territories and it does not exclude project owners from seeking other green rating standards.
It can “help streamline that process because there are a lot of synergies and alignment between LEED and WELL (which focuses on health/wellness of building occupants), for instance,” Onisko told delegates.
Furthermore, she said, another LEED benefit is that it offers rating systems for specific types of projects. Schools and hospitals are among a number of examples.
“It is a market influencer,” added Byers, not only for building designs but how building products and materials are manufactured.
She cited a material example as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood, which represents 39 per cent of all forests in North America. Today, particularly for composite wood projects, it is readily available but that wasn’t the case a decade ago.
Byers said construction practices have also evolved because of LEED.
Just look to waste management and onsite housekeeping practices as examples.
There are more than 3,400 certified LEED buildings in Canada — representing one billion square feet — and there are 7,000 additional buildings registered to achieve LEED in Canada.
The commercial/institutional sectors are leading the way in LEED certification. One of every four institutional buildings is LEED certified and LEED is the green standard for new Class A office buildings in Canada.
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