Thursday, July 17, 2008

LEED With Green Roofs

Green roofs help builders and buildings get Platinum LEED certification. The picture, above, is the Northern Arizona University Applied Research and Development building, located in Flagstaff, AZ.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and is trademarked by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). The USGBC defines LEED as:

LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

The certification and rating system is done by consensus of the various LEED committees.

Relative to building, a flat green roof helps to meet LEED standards for energy consumption, carbon footprint reduction, and storm water runoff reductions. Additionally, flat green roofs reduce fine particulate matter air pollution. While LEED recognizes the building as a system, a flat green roof is a great addition to improve both the building and its certification.

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