Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 130 Section 3 Specifications and Materials LEED Building Certification The US Green Building Council has established the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) ® ® Green Building Rating System. The Green Building Rating System is an accepted standard that provides construction guidelines for builders and municipalities. LEED building certification, available for commercial and residential construction projects, is based on imple- mentation of green building objectives. LEED certification recognizes successful performance of a project in a series of categories in a specific LEED rating system. In the certification process, points are awarded for meeting criteria in each category. The categories addressed under the New Construction and Major Renovation rating system include the following: • Location and transportation • Sustainable sites • Water efficiency • Energy and atmosphere • Materials and resources • Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) • Innovation • Regional priority To earn LEED certification, the construction project must score the required number of points in the specific LEED rating system. Four different certification levels are available: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The LEED Platinum certification is the highest level attainable. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Volatil le organic an compounds (VOCs) are ar toxic sub bs tances a s that evaporate into the atmosphere tm e. The e evaporation v r t of VOCs contributes s t to the dev ve lopment o n t of environmental hazards ds such h as s smog, m , but VOCs VO can also reduce the e quality q y of air ind do ors. Not N only are VOCs harmful f to the env vi ronment, o n , but they can also be harmful a m to o you ur health. h . Continued C exposure to these he toxins s can n produce r e symptoms such as headaches da and d nau us e ea or more mo severe damage, such h as org ga n n dam ma g ge and cancer. Products that contain on VOCs V C inc cl ude sub bs t ta nces such as paint and d cleaning sup pp lies, but u VOCs are also found in fa ab rics s or carpets. c In selecting s materials for a construc ct ion pro oj ect, c it is s possible o e to reduce the owner’s exposure xp e to o VOCs O s being g released into the building. g. Many y VOC-c O co ntain ni ng products are offered in more r org ga nic alternatives. e n These products use u plant- a - bas se d d materials e i rather than chemicals l such as ben nz e en e. Plan n to use zero-VOC paints, a an d choose h car rp ets t and d o ot her flooring materials carefully. ar . Take a the e tim me to research re the materials. In genera g al , cho oo s se mate t er ials with natural finishes s or fab br ic tha at is s made e from organic cotton. GREEN BUILDING