The U.S. Green Building Council is currently accepting public comments until December 10, 2012, on its draft of LEED v4 that will aim to establish LEED certification for the hospitality industry, as well as data centers, retail, and healthcare uses. This post discusses a few of the categories that will be considered for applicants seeking to obtain LEED certification for such uses.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a voluntary, consensus-based, market­-driven program that provides third-party verification of green buildings. For commercial buildings and neighborhoods, to earn LEED certification requires that, a project must satisfy all LEED prerequisites and earn a minimum 40 points on a 110-point LEED rating system scale. The main credit categories are sustainable sites, water efficiency credits, energy and atmosphere credits, materials and resource credits, and indoor environmental quality credits.

Here is a brief overview of some of the credits that are proposed for hospitality, data centers, retail, and healthcare uses.

Planning for green vehicles will gain you points on your application for LEED certification. As currently draft, here’s how: (more…)