Hinweis der Redaktion

• We believe green buildings are the foundation of something bigger: helping people and the communities and cities they reside in—safely, healthily and sustainably thrive. The heart of our green building community’s efforts must go well beyond construction, efficiency, and the materials that make up our buildings. We must dig deeper and focus on what matters most within those buildings: human beings.
  
  Everyone should have safe and healthy places to live, work, learn and play. Leading long and healthy lives is not a privilege—it’s a right for everyone. Shouldn’t the places where we spend 90% of our time support our health and well-being? Improved health and productivity benefits play a more significant role in driving companies to invest in green buildings.
  
  We work towards better buildings for better lives through the LEED green building rating system and certification. LEED is a global, regional and local green building rating system that provides a framework for high-performing, healthy, sustainable buildings, communities, and cities worldwide.
  
  LEED, the world's most widely used and trusted green building rating system, is a crucial solution to current environmental challenges and a tool that improves human health.
  
• Today, we are excited to say that LEED is a full-scale global movement. The numbers speak for themselves—LEED is everywhere, with projects in 180 countries and territories…and growing.
• Our vision at USGBC is simple—Healthy people in healthy places equals a healthy economy.
  
• The top triggers driving future green building activity: client demands (34%), environmental regulations (33%), and healthier buildings (27%). Source: World Green Building Trends 2018 SmartMarket Report
• The top trigger driving future green building activity is healthier buildings (27%). Creating healthier spaces is now one of the top reasons for building green. It's also listed as the leading social reason, even ahead of motivators like promoting sustainable business practices and worker productivity.
  
  Source: World Green Building Trends 2018 SmartMarket Report
• Why certify? We stand for accountability and translate that accountability through the LEED third-party certification process. Behind LEED is an infrastructure developed by industry leaders that supports project teams as they innovate and create high-performing buildings, homes and neighborhoods. USGBC invests more than $30 million annually to maintain, operate and improve LEED and its customer delivery.
  
  The LEED plaque stands for leadership and demonstrates that a building has been designed and operating as intended. Being "built to LEED” or “LEED equivalency” doesn’t exist—there is no substitute for LEED certification.
  
  Now, today we are here to show the Value of LEED and show how LEED can be integrated into your current and future building portfolio so that you can company can become the latest to commit to LEED and, consequently, raise the bar for what we can expect from our buildings, cities and communities.
  
  
  Projects pursuing LEED certification earn points for various green building strategies across several categories based on the number of points achieved; a project earns one of four LEED rating levels: Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum.
  
  
  
  
• What are the benefits of pursuing LEED certification? LEED-certified buildings save money, consume less energy, use less water, use fewer resources and provide better indoor environmental quality than traditional buildings. And pursuing LEED and the strategies the rating system employs facilitates better product and material choices in a building and helps to drive innovation.
  
• LEED-certified buildings also enjoy a lifetime of returns. They cost less to operate, reducing energy and water bills by as much as 40%. Buildings and organizations across the globe use LEED to increase the efficiency of buildings, freeing up valuable resources that can be used to create new jobs, attract and retain top talent, expand operations and invest in emerging technologies.
• LEED building owners report reduced operating costs, lower employee absenteeism and turnover, higher resale value, less time on the market, faster lease-up rates and reduced risks compared to traditional buildings.
• Populous, which has been a USGBC member since 2008, and has worked on LEED-certified projects worldwide, reports that pursuing LEED has allowed them to enjoy significant payback. Heather Stewart states: “Our data proves that the cost of pursuing LEED adds less than 1% of the total project costs while accounting for significant water and energy savings and subsequent payback.”
• The University of North Texas President reports that the sustainable features of their LEED-certified football stadium pay for themselves within eight years. In 2011, their 31,800-seat football stadium because the first LEED Certified sports arena in the world. President V. Lane Rawlins said afterward: “By building in this manner, the sustainable features of the buildings pay for themselves through their efficiencies within eight years.”
  
• A survey of Fortune 200 companies conducted by USGBC in 2015 found that the world’s top-performing companies prioritize sustainability as part of their corporate social responsibility efforts, and most of them are using LEED to achieve their goals. 82% of survey respondents said they were likely to continue to use LEED over the next three years for new construction or retrofit projects, 60% believed LEED positively impacts their ROI, 70% said they pursue LEED as a means to save money by being more energy efficient and 80% agree that LEED is a crucial way their company communicates sustainability efforts.
• Here’s a complete breakdown of a 12 Month timeline to achieve LEED certification:
  
  1. Join USGBC as a member today and choose your level of Membership based on your company’s corporate goals
  2. Identify your existing and future building portfolio. During this phase, you’ll work directly with your USGBC Account Manager to register your buildings on the Arc Platform.
  3. Partner with USGBC, GBCI and Arc to work towards certification. Your USGBC Account Manager will facilitate support for all your projects as they progress towards certification and open avenues with USGBC Marketing and Education teams to promote your corporate sustainable footprint and brand further.
  4. Submit your projects for LEED Certification: With all the prerequisites completed and 12 months of data reported, your projects can submit for LEED Certification.
  5. Certify to LEED!
• Next, you’ll get started on the path to certification using the Arc platform through these five simple steps...
• Cushman & Wakefield reported that LEED-certified buildings have consistently achieved higher rents than their non-LEED counterparts, averaging $4.13 or 11.1% higher rent than non-LEED certified buildings.
  
  Cushman & Wakefield (2021). Green Is Good: Sustainable Office Outperforms in Class A Urban Markets.
  
  
• Cushman & Wakefield’s report also found that since 2018, LEED-certified assets held a 21.4% higher average market sales price per square foot over non-LEED buildings.
  
  Cushman & Wakefield (2021). Green Is Good: Sustainable Office Outperforms in Class A Urban Markets.
  
  
  
• LEED-certified building inventory continues to grow rapidly, making up 46% of urban deliveries in the last 10 years.
  
  Cushman & Wakefield (2021). Green Is Good: Sustainable Office Outperforms in Class A Urban Markets.
  
  
  
  
• The LEED-certified office has consistently performed at a premium when it comes to pricing across quality classes and geographies.
  
  Cushman & Wakefield. (2021). Green Is Good: Sustainability’s Impact on Office Investment Pricing.
  
• Keeping quality and class constant, LEED-certified Class A urban office sales generated a 25.3% price per square foot premium over non-certified buildings. In comparison, LEED-certified Class A suburban offices achieved a 40.9% premium over non-certified assets.
  
  Cushman & Wakefield. (2021). Green Is Good: Sustainability’s Impact on Office Investment Pricing.
• LEED-certified Class B office achieved the highest premium, 77.5%, over its non-certified comparable set.
  
  Cushman & Wakefield. (2021). Green Is Good: Sustainability’s Impact on Office Investment Pricing.
  
• LEED-certified assets outperform during recession-recovery periods, having lower vacancies than their non-LEED counterparts in the wake of COVID-19.
  
  Cushman & Wakefield. (2021). Green Is Good: Sustainable Office Outperforms in Class A Urban Markets.
  
• The pandemic accelerated tenant demand for ESG assets. Since 2020, the occupancy rate for LEED-certified assets has increased from 90% to 92% in the U.S., while non-LEED occupancy in the U.S. has fallen from 90% to 88% over the same period.
  
  Cushman & Wakefield. (2021). Green Is Good: Sustainable Office Outperforms in Class A Urban Markets.