By way of background, LEED has been the federal standard since
2006 and is certainly the most well-known of the programs, with
10,000 buildings having been awarded certification and over
150,000 professionals involved in the program. However, the
Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) requires the
GSA to make an evaluation every five years and identify a system
that it “deems to be most likely to encourage a comprehensive
and environmentally sound approach to certification of green
buildings.” The EISA requires that sustainable design principles
be applied to federal design and construction projects for new
buildings and major renovations. The review evaluated how
closely certification systems align with federal sustainable
design principles and high-performance operational requirements
derived from the Energy Policy Act, the EISA, the High-
Performance Sustainable Building Guiding Principles, and
Executive Order 13514. It is worth noting that none of the
systems met all of the federal requirement