9/11/22, 3:37 PM LEED impact categories

LEED impact categories

- [Instructor] What is the positive impact that a LEED certified
project makes on the environment? Or let me ask this
question in a different way. Which environmental impact of a
building are reduced by a LEED certified project? This is when
we start discussing the LEED impact categories. LEED's system
goals are referred to as impact categories. There are several
impact categories that were developed and approved by the
LEED Steering Committee for incorporation into LEED version
four. These seven LEED impact categories are reverse
contribution to global climate change; enhance individual
human health and well being; protect and restore water
resources; protect, enhance, and restore biodiversity and
ecosystem services; promote sustainable and regenerative
material resources cycles; build a greener economy; enhance
social equity, environmental justice, and community quality of
life. In the context of the LEED rating system, these seven
LEED impact categories are not equal. As you can see in this
chart, climate change is the most important impact
category that the LEED rating system responds to. LEED rating
system allocates points to credits that answer the call for
these seven ways LEED certified projects can accomplish
their social, environmental, and economic goals. LEED credits
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that address the most important impact categories receive

more points. For example, most number of points are
assigned to the LEED credit for energy optimization since
energy reduction has a direct impact on fossil fuel
reduction and reversing contribution to climate change. As
you can see from this pie chart, some categories receive
significantly more points than the others. The energy and
atmosphere category receives the most number of points due
to responding to climate change, which is most important of
all. The first LEED impact category is reverse contribution to
global climate change. This category has seven
subcategories that reduce greenhouse gas emissions
resulting from constructing and operating buildings. I'm sure
many of us could have guessed the first two
subcategories; building energy use and
transportation. However, the other subcategories in this
section are not always as obvious. Let's take a look at
them. Greenhouse gas emissions reduction from building
operations energy use, transportation energy use, materials
and water embodied energy use, embodied energy of water
reduction, cleaner energy supply, and global warming
potential reduction from non energy related drivers. Here is a
sample question. Which one of the following is the first and
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most important environmental impact that the LEED rating

system addresses? Another question in this topic may ask
you to choose a strategy that is most effective under a
specific impact category. It may be something like this. How
can a project team best reverse their project's contribution to
climate change? If asked this question, you should choose the
most impactful choice that reduces fossil fuel uses like the
Iran Energy Consumption Reduction. Under the human health
category, which is the second most important LEED impact
category, there are three impacts that are addressed. The first
one is to support occupant comfort and well being. The
second one is to protect human health from direct exposure
to negative health impacts. And the last one is to protect
human health globally and across the entire Built
Environment life cycle. Protect and restore water resources
impact category not only includes reducing environmental
impact by efficient water use, but also addresses very
important water related building impacts, such as water
quality and protection and restoration of water regimes and
natural hydrological cycles. The protect, enhance, and restore
biodiversity and ecosystem services category addresses both
local and global systems in three aspects. Local biodiversity,
habitat protection, and open spaces; global biodiversity,
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9/11/22, 3:37 PM LEED impact categories

habitat protection, and land preservation; and sustainable use

and management of ecosystem services. Promote sustainable
and regenerative material resources cycles focuses on
conserving natural resources, minimizing negative
environmental impacts throughout the material's cycle, and
initiating a shift to materials cycles that become a positive
contributor to the environment and human health. The build
a greener economy impact category focuses on economical
value of green buildings and advocates for green building
practices and overall sustainability as a central component of
continued economic growth and longterm profit. I like giving
the example that I have a job as a result of the green building
movement. Many green jobs are created in the last decade as
well as new green products and technologies that are
introduced to the green building market continuously. The
enhance social equity, environmental justice, and community
quality of life category explores the importance of buildings
in the context of the greater community that surrounds
them and how they can powerfully shape the culture, politics,
values, prosperity, health, and happiness of the citizens that
are unavoidably affected by them. When you think about
social equity, environmental justice, and community quality of
life don't just focus on the building as a physical structure, but
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think about what goes into it and how many lives it

touches, including workers at a manufacturing
facility, construction workers, communities that are affected
through the supply chain. It is very likely that you'll be
tested on your knowledge of LEED impact categories when
you take the LEED Green Associate Exam. The questions could
be as simple as what are the LEED impact categories? Or the
subcategories under each impact category, such as which one
of the following fall under the LEED impact category climate
change? You can find more information on how LEED impact
categories were developed, how they were implemented in
the LEED score card and assigned to each LEED credit on the
USGBC's website.

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