LEED is an acronym which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed in 1998 by the U.S. Green Building Council. It’s a way, through a third party Certification program, for a building to be rated on the important key criteria that green building entails. The rating system is focused on and rates six areas of human and environmental health. The areas measured are sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality and innovation & design process.

To become LEED certified you need to achieve a certain amount of points based on these ratings. You can achieve ratings at four levels, certified, silver, gold and platinum. LEED certification is obtained only after an application documenting compliance with the requirements of the rating system is approved and fees for the service have been paid. LEED was created to define “green building” by establishing a common standard of measurement, to promote an integrated, whole-building design practice among builders and to raise consumer awareness of the benefits of green building. Originally it was used for mainly commercial buildings but it is used for residential building as well.