Foundations of LEED

USGBC’s vision is that “buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation.” USGBC’s Mission, “to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life” builds on this vision through the development and improvement of the LEED rating system.

This document, the LEED Foundations Document, defines the purpose, development and implementation process and procedures for the LEED Green Building Rating System. The LEED Foundations Document is an evolving design for market-transformation to be achieved through the implementation and ongoing development of LEED and the processes, procedures and infrastructure that support it. As with LEED, this document is a work in-progress, updated on an as-needed basis as LEED evolves to ensure that LEED remains the benchmark for leadership in market transformation of the built environment.

The LEED Foundations Document is required reading for all LEED Committee members and is also recommended for all LEED subcommittee members and the USGBC Board of Directors.

The environmental footprint of the constructed human environment is massive. LEED was created to provide the people who design, build, and operate buildings with an organized, consensus benchmark for defining and evaluating green buildings. LEED is a document intended to transform the way people practice design, construction, and operations of buildings and is written by the people it is transforming. As professional practice, technology, products, and services evolve, as will LEED.