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LEED® for Homes™ FAQ for Homeowners
Why is a green home right for me?
Green homes-like LEED-certified homes–can have myriad benefits for your family, your environmental footprint, and your wallet. Generally, green homes are more comfortable and durable, more energy and water efficient, and have a smaller overall environmental footprint than conventional homes.
What is LEED?
LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification program, providing third-party verification that a building or community incorporates strategies aimed at improving performance, increasing energy and water efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, thoughtfully utilizing our natural resources, and improving indoor environmental quality.
What is LEED for Homes?
LEED for Homes is a consensus-developed, third party-verified rating system that provides a basis for quantifying the benefits of green homes. The rating system measures a home's performance based on eight categories: site selection, water efficiency, materials & resources, energy & atmosphere, indoor environmental quality, location & linkages, awareness & education, and innovation. Each LEED-certified home undergoes onsite inspections and thorough performance testing to ensure proper performance.
Why should I consider buying a LEED-certified home?
A home that achieves LEED certification has been designed to maximize fresh air indoors, minimizing exposure to airborne toxins and pollutants, and has the potential to use 20-30% less energy – and some up to 60% less - than a home built to the International Energy Code Council's 2006 code. Less energy use means lower utility bills every month throughout the life of the house.
Beyond energy, achieving LEED certification is a mark of leadership in green homebuilding, clearly differentiating a home as among the best in the country. LEED is like the nutrition label that demonstrates in measurable terms how a home incorporates efficient features, with the added assurance that the final product has been third party-verified and performance tested.
What is the difference between LEED for Homes and other green home programs?
LEED is a national, third-party certification system for green homebuilding. It is designed to recognize leadership, so the program is rigorous and focused on measurable results. In addition, LEED provides a process and support system for builders to help them make informed decisions about their project, and achieve great success in green homebuilding.
Who is responsible for rating a LEED-certified home?
Each LEED for Homes registered project is inspected by a LEED for Homes Green Rater under the guidance of a LEED for Homes Provider. Providers and Green Raters are local organizations and individuals with demonstrated experience with green building.
Need more information?
For more information, please visit www.usgbc.org/homes, send us an email at
Homes@usgbc.org, or call (800) 795-1747.
PHONE 303-646-5225 | FAX 303-646-6232
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