This past Monday, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) approved transitioning the LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot program into a full certification program. Up to this point, this certification process was provided to a select few projects in the US. The USGBC put the program up to a vote and all four voting organizations (Congress for the New Urbanism members, CNU Board of Directors, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the USGBC) approved the transition. 

The main difference between LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC) and LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) is the project impact scope. A major criticism of the LEED-NC system is that a developer could build a Platinum LEED structure - out in suburbia in a greenfield. The LEED-NC does not evaluate the infrastructure needs, location, or transportation for a project. LEED-ND on the other hand acknowledges a large scope of impact. Developers are evaluated on use of land, correlation with surrounding use, consideration for brownfields, and access to public transit - to name a few.

The LEED-ND system is studied and incorporated into Christine Cousineau's "Green Urban Design" course.

For the New Urbanism News article about this: click here. 

To learn about the USGBC and its LEED accreditation programs: click here.