The Proliferation of LEED

® program mushroomed from one official rating system to three, and the Canada Green Building Council launched its own version as well. If the market response to LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) and LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) is anything like what we’ve seen with the original LEED Rating System (now called LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations, or LEED-NC), the Council’s period of rapid growth is far from over.

As LEED expands its reach, it is also getting more robust, with advancements like the new exam for LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED-APs) that was rolled out in September 2004. As word leaked out that the new exam would be more difficult than the old one, building professionals signed up in droves to beat the deadline. In the last month alone, the number of LEED-APs jumped from 9,000 to over 19,000, according to John Boecker, AIA, chair of the LEED Curriculum and Accreditation Committee.