Already a hit in Chicago, LEED-certified neighborhoods get a look in Grand Rapids

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) wants to move the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) concept beyond specific buildings to encompass entire neighborhoods. Grand Rapids and several other municipalities have answered the call to participate in a pilot program, LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System (LEED-ND).

The local LEED-ND Member Circle consists of representatives from 11 companies, 10 nonprofits, and several universities. Metro Grand Rapids is one of 236 US communities researching how to bring LEED principles to neighborhoods.

"LEED-ND is a certification that provides for independent third party verification that a development's location and design meet accepted high standards for environmentally responsible sustainable development," says Linda Frey, executive director of the USGBC West Michigan Chapter, the group heading up the local pilot program.

LEED-ND looks at a neighborhood's 'green' possibilities, including:

• A smart location with links to housing, jobs, schools, and transportation.
• Diversity of housing, transit facilities, and road design.
• Universal accessibility, particularly for disabled people.
• Local food production.
• LEED certified green buildings, reduced water use, and reuse of historic buildings.
• Building designs that maximize solar energy.
• Minimization of nighttime light pollution.

The group meets to educate themselves on the proposed program and to do preliminary fact-finding.

"When the post-pilot phase begins in 2008, we want to have informed people who can participate in the next step, which is the public comment period at the national level," Frey says. "Based on the feedback, the rating system is revised and improved."

In 2009, the revisions will be put to a ballot using the USGBC's consensus process and approval by the Congress for New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council, before becoming a certified LEED rating system.

Source: Linda Frey, US Green Building Council West Michigan Chapter

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].