In 1993, United States Green Building Council was formed. Looking at the amount of energy that buildings consume, it was soon realized that a system was required to define and measure 'green buildings'. This led to the birth of LEED- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

The first LEED Pilot project porgram was called LEED Version 1.0, and was launched in August 1998. Over the years it has been modified to meet the requirements of changing trends in the industry and to make the program more effective. The most current version of LEED Rating Systems became effective in 2009.

Features of LEED

• LEED helps to evaluate environmental performance from a whole building perspective over a buidling's lifecycle.
• LEED is based on accepted energy and environmental principles and strikes a balance between established and emerging practices.
• Each rating system is categorized under 5 categories:

1. Sustainable Sites
2. Water Efficiency
3. Energy and Atmosphere
4. Materials and Resources
5. Indoor Environmental Quality

• Additional 2 categories- Innovation in Design and Regional Priority give an opportunity to earn additional points.

1. Innovation in Design covers sustainable design measures not covered under the above said 5 categories.
2. Regional priority acknowledges the importance of local conditions and resources in determining best environmental design strategies.