LEED v4 now available to Canadian projects

The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) is making it easier for Canadians to work with the next generation of LEED. Working with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). CaGBC will certify LEED v4 projects using LEED Online in collaboration with the Green Building Certification Institute.

To ensure LEED v4 will meet the expectations of the Canadian marketplace, CaGBC is participating in the LEED International Roundtable and helping to develop Alternative Compliance Paths (ACPs). These are being launched at the GBC annual conference in Toronto on June 2-4.

Thomas Mueller, president and chief executive officer of the CaGBC, says: “LEED v4 presents the next generation of building rating systems with increased emphasis on energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions, building performance and material lifecycle assessment. Introducing Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) is an important first step toward reducing environmental impacts from materials and enhancing public health.”

Canadian projects will still be able to register under the current rating system, LEED Canada 2009 until June 1, 2015.

Changes in LEED v4 include the evaluation of materials using multiple attributes such as life cycle assessments and environmental product declarations. There is increased emphasis on performance, with metering requirements, and additional considerations such as acoustics are addressed.

LEED v4 addresses 21 different sectors, including data centres, warehouses, existing schools and existing retail buildings.

For the full CaGBC press release, click here.

For more information about LEED v4, click here