LEED® Certification
Buildings have a significant impact on the environment, the economy, individual health and productivity. In North America, buildings account for approximately one third of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as energy and water consumption, and polluting materials in similar proportions. Indoor air quality is considered one of the main environmental causes of health problems today, affecting the well-being, productivity and output of many individuals.
As sustainability becomes an increasing concern in the design and construction of buildings, the LEED rating system provides a framework within which to develop sustainable buildings.
Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building rating system that plans, develops, compares and certifies sustainable buildings around the planet. The program was created by the U.S. Green Building Council and adapted for Canada by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). The latter certifies the project in terms of total points obtained after verifications and an independent examination of the documentation submitted by the design and construction teams.
With its four levels of certification (Certified, Silver, Gold, Platinum), LEED is flexible enough to take into consideration a wide range of strategies developed to meet the constraints and objectives of sustainable building development projects.
LEED® Canada Structure
The scoring system is based on: (1) a set of seven prerequisites, and (2) credits organized into the six major LEED categories below:
- Sustainable sites (8 credits / 14 points)
- Water efficiency (3 credits / 5 points)
- Energy and atmosphere (6 credits / 17 points)
- Materials and resources (8 credits / 14 points)
- Indoor environmental quality (8 credits / 15 points)
- Innovation and design process (2 credits / 5 points)
It is important to point out that no single material can obtain points for LEED Certification credits because each category depends on the combined materials and their relation scaled to the total cost in dollars of all materials.
The following documents include certification letters for each category touched by PROFIX products. In addition, every technical data sheet includes the information outlining the product’s contribution in qualifying for specific LEED points.
Indoor Environmental Quality
IEQ Credit 3.2 option 3 - Reduce indoor air quality problems
IEQ Credit 4.1 - Low Emitting Materials
Materials and Resources
MR Credit 4.1 - 7.5% of recycled content
MR Credit 4.2 - 15% of recycled content
MR Credit 5.1 - 10% extracted and manufactured regionally
MR Credit 5.2 - 20% extracted and manufactured regionally
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