The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.

The northwest has become known as the nation’s leader in the Green or Sustainable building movement. Long Painting Company is at the forefront of our industry with respect to LEED projects, several of which are pictured at right.

Leading the industry in the movement for sustainable building is the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Formed in 1993, it is comprised of over eight thousand members including federal, state, and local government agencies, colleges, environmental groups, manufacturers, trade associations, architects, engineers and builders. Through their combined efforts these agencies are trying to affect a shift in the construction paradigm.

The USGBC employs a third-party certification system known as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Leadership (LEED). This rating system uses four certification levels: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum, each requiring a successively higher number of points. Points are achieved by meeting established criteria in several categories including site selection, water and energy conservation, material selection and indoor air quality. These levels of certification may be applied to six separate rating systems:

• LEED for New Construction
• LEED for Commercial Interiors
• LEED for Core and Shell
• LEED for Existing Office Buildings
• LEED for Homes
• LEED for Neighborhood Development