LEED® Certification

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) is a national non-profit organization focused on building sustainability. USGBC notes that buildings annually consume more than 30% of the total energy and more than 60% of the electricity used in the U.S."Green" building practices have become popular—practices that minimize the use of water and energy while reducing the negative environmental impacts of unsustainable design, construction and operational practices. In 1998 the USGBC Green Building rating system was released. Under the current rating system, buildings can be "Certified" by USGBC following submittal of documentation to USGBC. Buildings are certified at a number of levels: "Certified","Silver Certified", "Gold Certified" and "Platinum Certified."

Professionals "accredited" by USGBC assist property owners in shepherding their new or existing buildings through the certification process. Attainment of LEED Certification demonstrates that a building owner is cognizant of the ability to positively impact our environment through sustainable building and operation practices. Further, attainment of LEED certification has been shown to not only reduce operational costs, but also to increase the value of the building both in a resell and leasing environment. The General Services Administration (GSA) of the US Government has determined that starting in 2010 it will not build, operate or lease buildings that are not at least LEED Silver certified.

Combined with recent executive orders and energy legislation, LEED certification of buildings is rapidly becoming a prerequisite for demonstrating environmental awareness and managing energy and water consumption. SSA is a member of USGBC and has accredited professionals on staff to assist our clients through the LEED certification process. Further, our SpatialOperations user interface is focused on the LEED categories of Indoor Environment, Energy Consumption, Water Consumption, and Site Sustainability.

SSA's services include the development of a database structure that captures information necessary to assist in the LEED certification process, and the maintenance of the data in a format that is convenient for ongoing LEED commissioning. We assist the building manager in understanding what the ongoing characteristics of the building are and how they compare to "baseline"characteristics that are necessary to achieve and maintain LEED certification. We build and can host the facilities information necessary to prove energy and water reduction in conformance with LEED requirements with our SpatialOperations application.