Library provides a proving ground for USGBC LEED users.

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The U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) next update to the LEED program, LEED 2012, will include various updates to credits within the LEED Pilot Credit Library. As a flexible, interactive mechanism for testing proposed credits in the marketplace, the Pilot Credit Library gathers real-time feedback on credit usability and ability to meet a credit's intent.

The Pilot Credit Library was established to facilitate the introduction of new prerequisites and credits to LEED through stakeholder engagement and collaboration on the testing and analysis of proposed requirements. This process allows USGBC to refine credits through LEED project evaluations before being introduced into LEED.

LEED 2012, which opened yesterday for third public comment, is the next step towards a global, performance-based application. The current LEED 2012 draft focuses on increasing the technical rigor of the rating system, improving the user experience and providing measurement and performance tools. Along with the opening of the public comment period, several key changes within the Pilot Credit Library will be presented.

Under the heading of Materials and Resources (MR), Pilot Credits 2 and 11, will combine to form a more encompassing chemical avoidance credit. Pilot Credit 54: Avoidance of Chemicals of Concern in Building Materials, encourages LEED project teams to avoid building materials that contain chemicals that are known to negatively impact human health, specifically in regards to cancer and reproductive toxicity.

In addition to these two credits becoming one, an additional credit will be added, Disclosure of Chemicals of Concern (Pilot Credit 62) and it addresses product transparency. Both newly added pilot credits, 54 and 62, will progress to LEED 2012. A pilot credit that addresses alternatives assessments is under development.

Another notable change within MR is a pilot credit split to more directly address product transparency and performance. Pilot Credit 43 is now divided into two credits - Pilot Credit 61: Material Disclosure and Assessment and Pilot Credit 52: Material Multi-Attribute Assessment.

A new Energy Jumpstart concept under the Energy and Atmosphere heading addresses the huge opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and building operational expenses by reaching the 75 percent of the market that the existing buildings energy performance prerequisite excludes.

Pilot Credit 67: Energy & Atmosphere Prerequisite 2 Alternative Compliance Path, or Energy Jumpstart, rewards significant improvement in building energy performance. It enables projects that have documented substantial energy performance improvement to satisfy the requirements of the Energy & Atmosphere Prerequisite 2: Minimum Energy Efficiency Performance and pursue LEED at the Certified level.

- Edited by Chris Vavra, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, www.csemag.com