What Makes a Home LEED Certified?

The LEED certification stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, created by the US Green Building Council. The system measures construction methods used in a home structure. This allows buyers homes that are nature friendly.
For a home to be LEED certified, the construction should embody nature friendly practices, including use of recycled materials, eliminating waste that is generated because of construction, using materials that do not give out harmful substances to the environment. An LEED home certification is a great guide for homeowners who want to purchase or renovate their current homes and turn it into a more environmentally friendly home. For your home to be certified, it should also be assessed by a third party and make certain that you receive certification by following eco-friendly standards.
An LEED certificate promotes designing or building green houses. The system has eight different categories in measuring a home’s overall performance. Each category has specific number of credits and every credit is worth 1 or more points. A home is given LEED certification rating based on the total points. The four certifications include LEED Certified for homes with a score of 45 to 50 points, LEED Silver for home scoring 60 to 74 points. LEED Gold is awarded to homes with 75 to 89 points and the LEED Platinum for those scoring from 90 to 128 points. A builder could opt which credits to follow in order for a home to be certified.
Among these four categories, there are eight mandatory measures that should be completed in every LEED-certified home. Following are the eight categories and their points:
1. Design and Innovation Process – nine points for the use of unique regional credits, special design methods, and measures not currently addressed in the Rating system and excellent performance levels.
2. Location and Linkages – ten points for placing homes in socially and environmentally responsible measures in regards to the larger community.
3. Sustainable Sites – twenty-one points are given for the use of the entire property to lessen the effect of the project on the site.
4. Water Efficiency – fifteen points for indoor and outdoor conservation practices built into the home.
5. Atmosphere and Energy – thirty-eight points are given for enhancing energy efficiency, particularly in the cooling and heating design.
6. Materials and Resources – fourteen points given for choosing environmentally friendly materials, minimizing waste during construction and efficiently using materials.
7. Indoor Environmental Quality – twenty points are given for the improvement of the indoor air quality by reducing possible air pollution.
8. Education and Awareness – three points fro educating the homeowner, tenant and building manager about the operations and maintenance of the energy features of their houses.
The LEED is the only national homes rating that establishes and defines clearly benchmarks for the feature of a green home. It enables builders throughout the country to get a green LED rating that is recognized by buyers nationwide. Builders who use LEED can differentiate their homes as some of the best in the market. Furthermore, the LEED certification makes it easier for homebuyers to identify easily high quality green homes.

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