Neighborhood Developments Line Up for LEED-ND Pilot

According to Jennifer Henry, program manager for LEED-ND, “There’s a selection process in place, but it’s taking longer than we thought.” The overwhelming response to the call for pilot projects suggests that the new rating system, which focuses on smart growth and new urban concepts as well as on green building, fills a need in the market and will prove popular when released in its final form.

LEED-ND was created through collaboration between USGBC, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and is divided into three parts that reflect the three organizations’ strengths. The first part, “smart location and linkage,” was influenced by NRDC and incorporates smart growth concepts such as brownfield redevelopment, agricultural land and wetland preservation, and the limitation of construction impacts through density. New urbanist principles from CNU inform the second part of the rating system, “neighborhood pattern and design,” which offers credits for mixed-use development, affordable housing, and walkable streets, among other strategies. The third part, “green construction and technology,” draws from other LEED rating systems and focuses on the environmental performance of the buildings and infrastructure.