Building Codes Assistance Project

According to a report written by GreenerBuildings.com Executive Editor Rob Watson and released at the U.S. Green Building Council's annual conference Greenbuild in November, green buildings have saved the U.S. billions of gallons of water and enough energy to avoid the equivalent of burning of 1.3 million tons of coal for electricity since the inception of LEED standards in 1998.

The report is highlighted as the first to comprehensively measure whether LEED buildings are producing real and verifiable environmental improvement as promised. The report chronicles LEED's growth in an industry where buildings consume about 40 percent of the world's energy and contribute roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. LEED registrations and certifications doubled in 2007, compared to the preceding six years, and doubled again in 2008 relative to the previous seven years.

LEED buildings operate on about a quarter less energy than their conventional counterparts and have so far prevented the burning of about 1.3 million tons of coal for electricity. By 2015, that figure could hit nearly 26 millions of tons of coal we won't have to tap for electricity, and nearly 49 million tons of coal by 2020. These structures have also saved the U.S. 9.5 billion gallons of water, an amount that could surpass 133 billion gallons by 2015 and double again by 2020.

The report calculates that carbon dioxide emissions from commercial buildings in the U.S. must drop 1.6 percent every year to meet an overall mark of reducing emissions 80 percent by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of climate change. LEED buildings are now exceeding that target, but the rest of the entire building sector is not yet reaching that goal.

For more information, read the press release from GreenerBuildings.com or download the 2008 Green Building Impact Report.