USGBC LEED Volume Program Available for Existing Buildings

Washington, D.C.–The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that LEED Volume Program for Operations & Maintenance is now available for existing green building projects. The track, which focuses on operations and maintenance needs, debuted at the 2011 BOMA International Conference held in Washington, D.C.

“With the launch of the Operations & Maintenance track, LEED’s largest users are now able to make a sizable impact in greening their existing building portfolio as well as achieving green design and construction of their new builds,” says Scot Horst, senior vice president at USGBC. “Because existing buildings make up the vast majority of the U.S. building stock and the existing building market is nearly 100 times larger than the new construction market, tools like this are essential to reducing energy consumption from this sector.”

The LEED Volume Program is meant to streamline the certification process for high-volume property owners and managers of existing buildings and new construction projects. Utilizing a prototype-based approach, the program will enable large-scale builders, owners and managers to achieve consistency in green building improvements, allowing them to earn LEED certification faster and at a lower cost than would be possible with individual building reviews.

More than 625 building projects have certified through the LEED Volume Program. USGBC launched the program for the design and construction of new building projects at its Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in November 2010.