Around 100 sustainability professionals and industry peers in Hong Kong gathered on 17 June, 2013 to attend the "LEED v4 the next version of LEED" talk to get to know the latest requirements for LEED certified buildings.
     Organised by Platinum, a consortium for LEED professionals in Hong Kong, at Aedas' office, the event invited Jennivine Kwan, Vice President, International Operations, US Green Building Council (USGBC) to update attendees on what to expect from the new LEED v4. "Since the release of LEED 2009, USGBC believes it's the time to push the building industry ahead with more innovative concepts in greening. The proposed new version suggests to increase the technical rigor including changes in referenced standards and minimum thresholds," she said. "The new standards would strengthen the meaning of LEED certification, with the USGBC aiming beyond net-zero into net-positive."
     LEED is the most important and well-recognised international certification system for green buildings, which is constantly reviewed and revised. LEED v4 is the newest update to the LEED rating systems and new innovative concepts are set to be introduced:
- backlight, uplight and glare (BUG) ratings to evaluate light pollution reduction
- low-impact development infrastructure for rainwater management
- building envelope commissioning (BECx) to unify the requirements for enhanced commissioning
- whole system thinking in selected use and reuse of materials
- regional priority credits that are based on climate zones and urban/rural division instead of 
  national borders
 
"It is an unstoppable global trend to design, construct, maintain and operate buildings and communities in a sustainable way," said Frank McGoldrick, Member of the Board, Aedas International.
     The LEED v4 ballot is open until 30 June, 2013. People who have joined the consensus body (registered to vote) in April and are employed by a USGBC national member who has remained in good standing can cast their ballot on the newest update to the LEED rating systems. For more information, you may contact Ada Suen at [email protected]