LEED-ND Officially Launches

A collaboration between NRDC, the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the US Green Building Council, the LEED-ND progam has been long awaited by urban planners, who see it as a LEED for them.

Kaid Benfield writes, "It is my view that, while we in the environmental movement have always been good at identifying problems – including the havoc wreaked by sprawl – we have not always been equally adept at identifying pragmatic solutions. For land use, LEED-ND is a major step forward in closing that gap, articulating the kind of development that reduces global warming emissions, land consumption, traffic, resource waste and pollution while enhancing livability."

From the USGBC's page on LEED-ND: "The LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national system for neighborhood design. LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a development's location and design meet accepted high levels of environmentally responsible, sustainable development."