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Keegan asks: I was wondering if there are any particular or specific products that a residential home building company can use that are LEED certified or can make the company LEED certified.

Answer: Hi Keegan, thank you for your email. The basic story is that the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ("LEED") green building rating system certifies buildings, not products. Also, the building certification system is administered by the Green Building Certification Institute, as opposed to the U.S. Green Building Council, the organization that originally developed LEED back in the '90s.

It is also a common misconception that green building rating systems, such as LEED, will provide certification of companies. Indeed, I was at a green building conference the other day and a sales representative indicated to me that his company was LEED Certified.

Many people, such as yourself, are indicating that they are very interested in getting involved with green building. And from what we are seeing on this site, it is becoming even more stressful for builders and owners to try and understand green building because what started out as a voluntary program (LEED) is now being mandated by states all over the U.S.

Fundamentally, any company can work with the U.S. Green Building Council to try and certify a building that they are working on, but there is a very precise process for doing so and it is a very good idea to try to become educated about it. In terms of marketing your company as knowledgeable about LEED and green building, depending on your role in your organization and your experience/interest level, you may want to pursue a LEED Accreditation for yourself or others at your company.

LEED professional accreditations include:

* LEED Green Associate (Tier I)
* LEED AP (Tier II)
* LEED Fellow (Tiers come to my eyes because you are such a Green Mac Daddy/Jedi-Green Master... No one knows who these powerful creatures will be.)

LEED Green Associate (aka LEED GA) is for non-technical professionals who are often in important support roles at companies that consider sustainability very important. The LEED Accredited Professional credential represents a higher level of understanding of a particular LEED specialty track (such as New Construction, Commercial Interiors, Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance, Homes, Retail, etc.) A LEED AP must understand ALL of the credit and prerequisite requirements for that certification system, so that he or she could oversee a LEED certification if necessary.

Having this level of knowledge, and the credential itself, may be very helpful to your company.

Good luck!
Green-Buildings.com

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