Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) & “Green Building” Practices
Aurora has embraced LEED and green building early and enthusiastically. Our in-house
LEED division has several LEED GA’s and AP’s on staff, and several of our employees
are heavily involved with the USGBC. To date, Aurora has built the largest LEED
certified project on long island – The Arches in Deer Park; which is LEED Silver
Certified.
The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program, developed by the
US Green Building Council (USGBC), provides a set of principles for environmentally
sustainable construction. LEED is an open process, where the technical standards
proposed by the committees are publicly reviewed for approval by the membership
organizations that comprise the USGBC. There are 4 levels of LEED Certification:
Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum.
LEED was created to accomplish several objectives; among them are:
- To define “Green building” by instituting a common criterion of measurement
- To acknowledge environmental leadership in the building industry
- To encourage green competition
- To transform the building market
- To promote integrated, whole-building design practices
- To raise consumer awareness of green building benefits
The LEED rating system addresses six major areas:
- Sustainable sites
- Water efficiency
- Energy and atmosphere
- Materials and resources
- Indoor environmental quality
- Innovation and design process
It is clear that the main goals of LEED and Green Building practices are to protect
and preserve our environment. However, with careful analysis of the various methods
used in constructing “Green”, they may also provide immediate and long-term economic
benefits for developers, building owners and occupants. The USGBC states that benefits
of building Green include energy cost savings, increased employee productivity,
decreased absenteeism and increased property value. Aurora is careful to present
not only the costs associated with LEED but the potential benefits as well.
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