How Does Your Neighborhood Rate? LEED Launches New Green Neighborhood Rating System
Rick Audet
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the launch of the LEED for “Neighborhood Development” green neighborhoods rating system. LEED is an internationally recognised green building certification system, which provides third party verification that a building or community was designed and built according to sustainability and efficiency standards.
This newly implemented rating tool integrates the principles of smart growth, new urbanism, and green building, all of which are set to encourage healthy living, reduce peoples environmental impact, and to protect threatened species and fragile ecosystems.
The rating system encourages new developments to be located near or within existing communities. This dramatically decreases any negative environmental impacts relating to urban sprawl. Transport oriented development and proximity to services, amenities and jobs is greatly promoted in this system.
The LEED for Neighborhood Development, thrives to create healthy, safe neighborhoods in which people from a variety of demographics can live and work together. These neighborhoods greatly reduce the need for cars and offer efficient forms of public transport.
The ideal community would allow for higher density living that is shared by all walks of life. Places of employment are within walking, riding or a short bus/train distance away. People can walk to parks, movie theatres, restaurants and schools, thus increasing the social, economic and environmental sustainability of a community.
Living in such a way is currently only feasible in metropolitan city centres. But imagine smaller neighborhoods, your neighborhood, where all of this is possible. Communities would thrive economically while the pressure on the local environments would be reduced. The implementation of this rating tool by the USGBC is a big step in achieving across the board rating tools. With this system in place, we now have to rely on legislation and forward thinking developers to get these projects underway.
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