"The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.

LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality." (courtesy of www.usgbc.org)

Buildings can qualify for four different levels of LEED certification, based on a 100-point system. There are a number of different categories for which a building is designated as LEED...from sustainability, water and energy efficiency, to building materials. For further information, please visit US Green Building Council .