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Celebrating 30 years

In April, USGBC celebrated its 30th anniversary. For 30 years, the USGBC community has had a vision that buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life. Since USGBC's inception, thousands of organizations and countless individuals from every sector have been on this journey with us. The range of our members is extensive, and each company that has walked the path with us has contributed to our movement's collective know-how, capacity and success.

What's next? We’re continuing to define and enable green building leadership with LEED v5. We will help drive and validate performance improvement across entire portfolios to increase the speed and scale of our impact and get closer to achieving our mission of market transformation.

In 2023, USGBC also announced that its new headquarters in Washington, D.C., was awarded triple Platinum certification in LEED, TRUE and WELL. This trio of certifications reflects USGBC’s commitment to healthy, productive, sustainable and responsible work environments.

ËÄÉ«AV going strong

"Doing well by doing good" is very important to USGBC — and this catchphrase is even more relevant today. We are responsible for designing a healthier, more sustainable and resilient future. For USGBC and our members, that goal is at the heart of our work. Our members are leaders at the forefront of building sustainably through LEED. We don’t have to choose between sustainability, health and a thriving economy. The future will require all to thrive.

LEED has always been essential to companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. Today, the value proposition for LEED is higher than ever, as green building strategies provide a foundation that supports people and businesses and helps us adapt during a crisis. Commitments to increase green building efforts remain strong and a global priority, driven by extreme events and despite rising concerns like the pandemic and the climate crisis.

LEED v4.1

LEED v4.1 is more inclusive with updated referenced standards and allows projects to earn LEED points through building performance monitoring. It also continues to drive performance, fully integrating performance outcomes supported by new methodologies and a simple data-driven path to measure performance on an ongoing basis. Lessons learned from those using LEED have led us to look deeper at existing buildings, residential projects and cities to develop solutions that address unique markets.

LEED v4

LEED v4 came in 2015 with many new improvements over the previous systems, including increased flexibility, a performance-based, smart grid approach, an emphasis on materials and resources, a comprehensive approach to water, and streamlined documentation. LEED v4 continued to raise the bar for green buildings.

Health and green building 

USGBC hosted its first Summit on Green Building and Human Health, bringing together designers, product manufacturers, researchers, public health practitioners and government officials, among others, to share knowledge and discuss how to build and support a nationwide movement that promotes healthy green building. USGBC also launched its Green Health Partnership with the University of Virginia and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, working to understand health metrics in the context of LEED, to recommend new measures of success that quantify health impacts.

Center for Green Schools

USGBC launched the to drive the transformation of all schools into healthy, sustainable learning environments.

LEED v2009

USGBC launched LEED v2009 in April 2009. Among the many improvements over its predecessor, LEED v2.2, LEED v2009 introduced weightings for credits based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s TRACI (Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental Impacts) and weightings developed by the National Institute of Standards. This advancement made LEED much more rigorous and indicated the most important credits. Objective scientific intentions were behind the assigned credit values for the first time.

That same year, USGBC moved into its new headquarters at 2101 L St. NW, a Platinum-certified LEED for Commercial Interiors space, the first project to be certified under LEED v2009 and showcasing sustainable interior design. In 2010, GBCI certified the 5000th LEED project.

Launch of GBCI

USGBC launched as an independent organization to manage the LEED certification and professional credentialing process to scale the demand for LEED and ensure ongoing quality and integrity.

A green building explosion

2003 saw several significant developments for LEED. USGBC had grown and matured from its start as a fledgling non-profit, gathering strength, staff and resources, and it had launched LEED v2.1 the previous year. In April, LEED for Existing Buildings and LEED for Commercial Interiors began pilot testing, while LEED for Core and Shell launched in October. In November, the National Geographic Society building in Washington, D.C., became the first LEED-certified existing building.

In April 2004, LEED reached a significant milestone: 100 certified projects.

New sectors and a Greenbuild debut

In November 2002, Third Creek Elementary in Statesville, N.C., became the first elementary school to achieve LEED Gold, marking the expansion of green building practices into new market sectors.

At the same time, the USGBC hosted its inaugural in Austin, Texas, which was attended by around 4,000 people, reflecting the growing excitement and demand within the green building industry. Today, Greenbuild is the largest green building conference and expo in the world.

LEED v2.0

In March 2001, drawing on lessons learned from the pilot program, USGBC launched LEED 2.0.

LEED v1.0

By 1998, USGBC had successfully developed LEED 1.0 and began pilot testing 19 projects.

Following the pilot program's success, LEED for New Construction saw a public launch in March 2000.

The early years

The 1990s saw a growing realization of the need to optimize these systems—with people and nature in mind—to create better buildings.

LEED’s development grew from the formation of USGBC in 1993 by three individuals: David Gottfried, Mike Italiano and Rick Fedrizzi, who served as president, CEO and founding chair of the organization.