According to an article on the Healthcare Design website, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has called the new LEED v4 the most significant and comprehensive update since LEED’s inception. The new LEED v4 includes more aggressive energy and water efficiency prerequisites and credits, and unprecedented building product reporting and disclosure requirements.
Overall, healthcare designers are embracing the update, but some are wondering if the new system’s requirements are a bit too ambitious, according to the article.
“Through several LEED versions over the past 15 years, the bar has slowly risen. Arguably, the capacity for sustainable design in the design and construction world has risen more quickly, leaving LEED a little bit behind the rest of the industry,” Russell Perry, co-director of sustainable design, SmithGroupJJR, said in the article.
“The LEED Steering Committee and USGBC leadership have gambled that the industry is ready for a larger leap forward this time. I think they’ve gone too far, too fast, but I’m stimulated by the challenge and am eager to be proven wrong,” Perry said.
“Many aspects of v4 are very new to the sustainable design community, so it will take time for the industry to adjust,” said Mara Baum, senior associate, sustainable design leader, healthcare, HOK.
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