Why Use Concrete when designing a LEED building?
LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a rating system created by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to evaluate the environmental impact of a building and encourage the building, renovations, and design of environmentally friendly, green, and sustainable construction projects and developments. It is a credit-based system that gives points to projects for environmentally friendly actions that are done during the construction and use of a building. LEED was launched in an effort to develop a “consensus-based, market-driven rating system to accelerate the development and implementation of green building practices.” The program is not rigidly structured; every project does not need to meet identical requirements to qualify.
The Benefits of Concrete when Seeking LEED Certification
Using concrete can help increase the number of points given to a building that is seeking LEED certification. The possible available points that can be earned by using concrete range from 25 to 34. The benefits from utilizing concrete when constructing an environmentally friendly building include optimizing energy performance, increasing longevity, reducing construction waste, increasing the chance of building re-use, reducing CO2, increasing the ability to use recycled building materials, and reducing storm water run-off.
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