Governments and developers love issuing press releases announcing the opening of shiny new schools, rec centers and office buildings. Chances are good these days that building will be LEED silver, gold or even platinum.

The US Green Building Council created LEED in the 90s and it came to Canada in 2002. Its goals are simple: it wants to create resource-efficient, high-performing, healthy, cost-effective buildings.

LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and over time it become the most used green building rating system out there. According to Tanya Doran of the Green Building Council, Alberta Chapter, Canada has over 5,000 buildings that are registered for a LEED rating and 2,000 LEED certified buildings.

LEED was created with lofty goals and 28.8 million LEED projects have been built in Canada but what has it achieved?

Cam Munro is the Innovative Construction Manager at Clark Builders in Edmonton, Alberta. He can thank LEED for his title and right now 50 per cent of their 2014 projects at this large construction company are pursuing a LEED certification. We talked to Munro on the NAIT campus in Edmonton where they are building the new CAT Building, Clark’s 61st LEED project.

Clark took on its first LEED project in 2003. “It was a big learning curve,” says Munro who admits just surviving their first project was an accomplishment “And then within a year, right on the heels of that project, another one came, then another one and then another one.”

Studio4 is proud that the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) has exclusive rights to use and distribute their LEED study materials throughout Canada.

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