BOSTON—Things may be slowing on the economic side, but that is certainly not the case when it comes to green building. With the sector projected to steadily grow over the next decade (possibly by as much as 10% next year), the need for up-to-date rating systems and certifying programs is more important than ever.

At Greenbuild ’08, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced three major happenings with regard to its internationally recognized LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system and certification program.

At the top was the passage by the organization’s 18,000-plus members of “the next major evolution of the existing LEED rating systems for commercial buildings”— LEED 2009. Brendan Owens, USGBC’s vice president LEED technical development, said, “The long-awaited update includes a series of major technical advancements focused on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and addressing other environmental and human health outcomes.”

Another major development in the new system is the incorporation of regional credits—extra points that have been identified as priorities within a project’s given environmental zone.

Owens said LEED has also undergone a scientifically grounded re-weighting of credits, changing allocation of points to reflect climate change and energy efficiency as urgent priorities. “This will be one of the most significant changes to the rating system, and will increase the importance of green building as a means of contributing immediate and measurable solutions toward energy independence, climate change mitigation and other global priorities.”

Process innovation in how new technical advancements are incorporated into LEED will also be introduced, he added, including a pilot process for individual credits that will allow major new technical developments to be flexibly trialed, evaluated and incorporated into the rating system.

The passage of LEED 2009 follows an eight year process that included market and user feedback in the form of precedent-setting Credit Interpretation Rulings, which will ensure clarity for project teams, Owens noted. “Coupled with a credit alignment structure designed to create a more elegant and harmonized rating system, LEED 2009 will reset the bar for the certification of high-performance green buildings.”

Detailed information about specific proposed technical changes to the rating system can be found in the background documents that accompany the public comment forms on USGBC’s Web site. www.usgbc.org.

While the passage of LEED 2009 marks the conclusion to a major initiative to update the main rating system, USGBC was not about to stop. Instead, the organization announced public comment periods on two more specialized LEED rating systems.

The first, which was only open for two weeks and concluded Nov. 27—and is now going before the general members for a final vote—was for the LEED for Retail rating system, both for new construction and commercial interiors projects.

Doug Gatlin, USGBC’s vice president of market development, said “Retailers have become strong adopters of LEED, recognizing the need to green their space in order to convey their corporate values to their customer.”

To that end, he added, LEED for Retail recognizes the unique nature of the retail environment and offers a certification system that addresses the various types of retail spaces available, from grocery stores to big box retailers, to restaurants and banks.

Since the pilot’s version of LEED for Retail was launched in April 2007, USGBC has collaborated with over 80 retail project teams to develop and refine the program. Once balloted, it will become a part of LEED 2009.

To learn more about the LEED for Retail rating system, visit USGBC’s Web site.

Lastly, USGBC announced the opening of the first public comment period for its LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system, which runs through Jan. 5.

Sophie Lambert, director of the program, said it is the first national certification system for green neighborhood design and development. “The development of LEED for Neighborhood speaks to the breadth of what green building means. What was once a rating system solely designed for commercial construction, LEED is now evolving beyond single buildings to address development at the neighborhood scale.”

The new system is a collaboration between USGBC, the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The system evaluates projects related to smart location and linkage to the community at large; neighborhood pattern and design, and green construction and technology.

USGBC has been pilot testing the LEED for Neighborhood system since early 2007, and has accepted nearly 240 pilot projects into the program, representing 39 states and six countries.

For more on LEED for Neighborhood, visit USGBC’s Web site.