What is LEED? What are the standards of LEED in industrial facilities?
LEED certification is one of the world’s leading certifications for sustainable construction. LEED evaluates not only the energy-saving capabilities and environmental protection of factories but also makes significant contributions to the quality of construction projects. Let’s explore more detailed information about LEED through the article below with VKI.
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What is LEED?
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a certification issued by the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-governmental organization specializing in assessing environmentally friendly constructions and buildings. The LEED certification is widely recognized as the most prevalent certification for green architecture worldwide.
More than just a certification system, LEED is also considered a set of design and construction principles aimed at environmental protection, focusing on energy efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved water management, efficient resource utilization, and adaptation to climate change.
The LEED standards system for industrial facilities.
The LEED certification comprises prerequisites and credits, where prerequisites are mandatory factors that a green building project must meet to qualify for LEED certification. Credits, on the other hand, are optional factors that investors can choose to enhance the project’s evaluation score.
The evaluation criteria commonly used in LEED standards include:
- Nearby location and transportation
- Energy usage methods.
- Resource and material usage method during construction.
- Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in industrial buildings
- Arrangement of green areas within the factory.
Based on these criteria, the certification levels in the LEED standard typically are:
- LEED Certified: 40 – 49 points
- LEED Silver: 50 – 59 points
- LEED Gold: 60 – 79 points
- LEED Platinum: 80+ points
Advantages and limitations of LEED
When constructing a project according to LEED standards, both the investor and the construction contractors gain various valuable benefits. These benefits extend beyond economic advantages to health and environmental benefits as well.
The advantages of LEED
Below are some typical benefits that investors receive when constructing buildings according to LEED standards. These are characteristics that conventional buildings find hard to achieve.
- Gain Competitive Advantage: LEED-certified green buildings offer several advantages in competitive markets, including enhanced market reputation and a competitive edge in government procurement decisions.
- Attract More Tenants: The demand for green buildings is increasing, resulting in lower vacancy rates for green buildings, typically around 4% lower compared to overall market.
- Effective Management: LEED is considered the largest project and green building efficiency management system in the world. LEED certification supports investors in implementing efficient management methods, reducing operational costs, increasing asset value, and ensuring performance for users.
- Cost Efficiency: Thanks to green designs and technologies, the operating costs of the building will be significantly reduced, saving on additional costs during project construction and operation.
- Enhance Environmental Quality: LEED creates a healthy environment with clean air and natural sunlight. Therefore, employees and building users will have a better living and working environment, leading to increased work efficiency.
- Minimize Environmental Pollution: Green buildings maximize natural light, use non-toxic furniture, and ventilation systems to reduce CO2 concentrations. They contribute to improving air quality outside large industrial areas, and LEED is particularly effective in reducing emissions.
The drawbacks of LEED
Besides its advantages, the LEED standard also has some limitations:
- Businesses must invest significant costs to meet the requirements and regulations for obtaining LEED certification.
- Some of the regulations related to the LEED standard may not be entirely suitable for the specific conditions in Vietnam.
Despite these drawbacks, the LEED standard remains highly valuable and is the most widely recognized green building evaluation standard in Vietnam.
Some LEED-certified factories distributed by VKI include:
- Factory in Expanded Yen Phong: ranging from 2,700 to 20,000 square meters.
- Factories in Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong: ranging from 2,700 to 3,200 square meters.
These are VKI’s sharings on LEED along with some useful information about this green building standard. If you’re interested in renting a LEED-certified factory, please leave your information or contact the hotline/Zalo at 0967413186 for VKI’s immediate support!
