LEED Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

LEED - Essay Example LEED for new constructions addresses design and construction activities for new buildings and renovations; it helps lay a sustainable foundation for operation and maintenance practises after the completion of the building. In the existing buildings, LEED requires that they implement sustainable practises that will minimise negative impact on the environment. Such practises include water and power utilization, use of environment friendly materials for maintenance and adjustments, sustainable policies on buying and waste stream administration among others. LEED program for core and shell can be used where the developers have the control of the design and erection of the whole core and shell base structure but has no control of the internal tenant fittings. In commercial interiors, it mainly focuses on tenants who have leased some specific parts of the building to create working environment that is healthy, productive to work in and that does disturb the balance of environmental conditi ons thriving within the building. LEED for retail is concerned with the unique nature of the conditions needed for retail businesses; it uses the different needs for various retail businesses such as opening hours, parking needs, water and energy requirements among others. In view of this, LEED program provides two options for projects seeking certification; they include new construction and major renovation that addresses the details of construction or substantial renovations in retail buildings and commercial interior, which is concerned, with details about tenant space where the tenant is changing already existing fittings. In home construction, the LEED program is concerned with ensuring habitable conditions that provide maximum health benefits to the people living in the homes and at the same time making substantial savings on crucial resources such as fuel and water. LEED for Neighbourhood enlargement ensures that neighbourhoods, partial neighbourhoods or multiple neighbourhoo ds are constructed in a way that integrates ideologies of responsible expansion, urbanism and environment friendly construction into the initial nationalized scheme for neighbourhood plan. LEED for school was developed to address design and construction of K-12 schools; it is concerned with class acoustics, mould preclusion, major preparation and ecological site appraisal. Due to the specific needs of the health care environment, the LEED program for new construction would not be able to address all these needs therefore the need to have a program that was specifically designed for health care. This program is concerned with creating healthful, durable and affordable practises that are friendly to the environment and conducive for medical activities. The rating system consists of several credit categories that include the following: sustainable sites credit that encourage building strategies to minimise negative impact on the environment, water efficiency credits to encourage effici ency in water consumption, energy and atmosphere credits that encourage efficient energy performance (Cottrell, 2011). The credits also include material and resources credits that encourage use of sustainable building materials and indoor environmental air quality credits that promote better indoor air quality and access to light. The various credits have