Human health
Human health is a longstanding value of the green building movement.
1222 22nd Street NW | LEED Gold | Photo: ©Halkin Mason Photography
Promote health and well-being through LEED
ËÄÉ«AVs can promote health and well-being in the near term while preserving resources and protecting the environment for human benefit in the long term. By intentionally deploying green building strategies, like those availableÌýwithin the LEED rating systems, owners and practitioners can simultaneously promote health and well-being at a variety of population scales. These strategies can help:
- Create superior environments for building occupants.
- Promote safe and healthy sites for construction workers.
- Reduce toxic exposures throughout the supply chain.
- Advance the health of surrounding communities.
- Mitigate climate change to benefit global populations.
Tools and resources
LEED and human health are deeply interconnected – the built environment impacts both individual and population health. By intentionally applying LEED strategies and credit requirements, project teams can promote health and well-being by creating superior environments for building occupants, reducing toxic exposures throughout the supply chain, advancing the health of surrounding communities, and mitigating climate change to benefit global populations.
The following tools and resources are continuously being developed and updated to inform practitioners about the relationship between health and the built environment and the steps they can take to establish an intentional process for health promotion within their LEED projects.
While LEED contains a number of health-related strategies, practitioners must be intentional in their use of LEED to maximize its potential health benefit. A needs-based health promotion process such as the LEED Integrative Process for Health Promotion (IPHP) pilot credit can help project teams select and tailor LEED credits based on a project’s specific health context.
The majority of credits within the LEED v4 and v4.1 rating systems address the health of the site user and health-related credits are found within every LEED credit category. These credits include guidance on improving indoor air quality, promoting physical activity and healthy nutrition, and designing for mental health and comfort, among many others. Some strategies, however, do not fully state their potential health benefit(s) and/or require practitioners to choose a specific health-related compliance pathway.
With an intentional, needs-based approach to the application of credit requirements, projects can target health goals most relevant to their project’s population. Practitioners can also leverage the power of the rating system to achieve sustainability and energy efficiency goals while maintaining a focus on health promotion efforts.
- Health in LEED resource
- LEED and Health Credit Guide
- Social Determinants of Health for Real Estate
- LEED Integrative Process for Health Promotion (LEED Health Process) Pilot Credit
- For all projects
- Green Buildings for Health: An Owner’s Roadmap to the LEED Health Process
- LEED Health Process: Workshops Guide for Project Owners
- LEED Health Process: Monitoring Outcomes in Buildings
- Green Buildings for Health: A Project Team’s Roadmap to the LEED Health Process
- LEED Health Process: Workshops Guide for Project Teams
- Worksheet: Setting Project Health Goals
- Worksheet: Health Design Charrette
- For school districts
- For school project teams
- Green Schools for Health: A Project Team’s Roadmap to the LEED Health Process
- LEED Health Process: Workshops Guide for School Project Teams
- LEED Health Process: Community Health Profile Guide for School Project Teams
- LEED Health Process: Monitoring Outcomes Guide for School Project Teams
- Worksheet: Setting Project Health Goals for Schools
- Worksheet: Health Design Charrette for Schools
- For all projects
- LEED Health Process case studies
- Sandia National Laboratories corporate campus
- The Colorado Health Foundation office building
- Balboa Park Upper Yard affordable housing development
- Maceo May affordable housing developmentÌý
- 2060 Folsom affordable housing developmentÌý
- John Lewis Elementary School
- District of Columbia Public Schools portfolio application
- Joint Call to Action for Healthy Communities conversation guidesÌý
- Convening New Partnerships, Breaking Out of Silos (Los Angeles, California)
- Broadening the Discussion about Health and the Built Environment (Denver, Colorado)
- An Alley Becomes a Gateway to a Healthier Community (Baltimore, Maryland)
- Design Strategies for Burning Health Issues (Phoenix, Arizona)
- Driving Results for Community Safety and Health (South Bend, Indiana)
- A Lesson Plan for Health and Health Equity (Washington, D.C.)
- A Neighborhood's Plans for a Vibrant Transformation (Salinas, California)
- Reimagining Parks, Health and an Entire Small Town (Winchester, Kentucky)
- A Stormwater Problem Becomes a Health Equity Opportunity (Denver, Colorado)
- Turning the Wheels to Build Biking Infrastructure and Access (Northwest Arkansas)