The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that its membership has voted to adopt LEED v4, the next update to the world’s premier green building rating system. The final overall vote was 86 percent in favor of adopting LEED v4. This includes 90 percent approval from the user category of the voting body, 77 percent approval from the general interest category and 89 percent approval from the producer category. The minimum overall percentage of votes needed for a passing vote was 66.7 percent.

“There are 46 countries and territories around the world and all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia represented in the voting pool for LEED v4, which includes an extraordinarily diverse group of industry professionals, manufacturers, educators and other green building leaders,” said Joel Ann Todd, chair of the LEED Steering Committee. “USGBC sets a very high bar for a rating system to be approved. The rating system must earn a significant percentage of the overall vote as well as a majority approval from each of the various LEED stakeholder groups. This ensures that rating system approval represents the full diversity of USGBC’s membership.”

Over the course of LEED’s development cycle, the program undergoes a series of public comment periods ending with a final ballot, during which USGBC members vote on whether to adopt the changes within the final proposed system.

“This update of LEED builds on the past while offering new requirements, preparing all LEED projects to achieve higher levels of building performance and positive environmental outcomes,” said Scot Horst, senior vice president of LEED, USGBC. “This newest version of LEED challenges the market to make the next leap toward better, cleaner, healthier buildings. I am confident that people will also notice the improved usability of the system with an improved documentation process and more resources and tools to assist and support positive action.”

Starting this summer, USGBC will offer education on LEED v4 in the form of webinar suites, and the full program, along with reference guides, will be unveiled at this year's Greenbuild International Conference & Expo. Currently, there are more 100 projects pursuing certification through the LEED v4 beta program. With projects currently in the review phase, some will certify as early as this summer. Enrollment for the beta program is still open. Download the LEED v4 User Guide for details.