What is The LEED Program?

LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). It was created  in an effort to provide a national standard for green building design.  The pilot version of these guidelines was introduced in 2000 and has continually been expanded and revised. The current version for the U.S Green Building Council is LEED New Construction and Major Renovation Version 2.1.  Standards also exist that specifically target Commercial Interiors, Core and Shell, Existing Buildings, and Residential Buildings.

The LEED rating system is based on achieving a certain number of points, which are allocated for design choices defined within the standard.  There are 6 sections to LEED that target specific design criteria:

1. Site Selection
2. Efficient use of Water
3. Energy and Atmosphere
4. Materials and Resources
5. Indoor Environmental Quality
6. Innovative Design

Depending on the number of points achieved, the building can attain Platinum (52 – 69 points), Gold (39 – 51 points), Silver (33 – 38 points) or LEED certified (26 – 32 points) status.

Superior Waste can help by working with you to achieve either 50% diversion for one point or 75% diversion for both points. We can provide separate bins for recyclable materials or provide a single bin for mixed waste and separate the materials at our Materials Recovery Facility. On a monthly basis we will forward a report showing how much you have diverted. Letters from the receiving facilities will further describe how they process the materials and what new products will be made from the material you have diverted from landfill.