LEED Pioneer Buildings Announced

At its March 30 Federal Government Summit, the U.S. Green Building Council presented the first twelve buildings to receive LEED™ certification (see descriptions, starting at right). These buildings are certified under the standards of the pilot program—also known as LEED 1.0—so no actual scores or levels (such as silver, gold, or platinum) have been assigned. The official version LEED (or LEED 2.0) was slated to be launched at the same event but has been delayed until May 8 due to an objection by the California Energy Commission (CEC), a Council member.

LEED 2.0 was released for balloting by Council members in February 2000. As a consensus-based organization, the Council is required to address all member concerns. Based on responses to the ballot, a number of nonsubstantive changes have been made to the wording, but the CEC’s objection requires a substantive change. CEC is concerned about the fact that the energy performance prerequisite for LEED certification is no better than California’s Title 24 requirement, so any building built to code in California meets the Energy prerequisite for LEED certification. CEC is proposing to raise the bar on this prerequisite. Oddly, CEC’s proposal also