The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) is an internationally recognized green building certification system,  providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. 

LEED is a voluntary certification program that can be applied to any building type and any building lifecycle phase.  It promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in key areas:  Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation in Design and Regional Priority.  For more information about what LEED measures, visit this USGBC web page.