Cities & Communities

LEED for greener, more resilient communities 

LEED for Cities and Communities helps local leaders create sustainable plans for a community’s natural systems, energy, water, waste, and transportation as well as other factors contributing to residents’ quality of life.

The LEED framework encompasses environmental, social and economic performance indicators with a clear, data-driven way to benchmark and communicate progress that is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

LEED v4.1 

LEED v4.1 expands options for LEED for Cities and LEED for Communities to include two new project types — the planning and design phase, and existing cities. Among the updates are

• Includes standards from the STAR Community Rating System and elements of GBCI green energy and infrastructure rating systems like PEER and SITES
• Triple bottom line approach with scalable metrics that work at the city, county and regional scale
• Performance standards, proven strategies and best practice to provide flexible pathways to measure and advance progress 
• Greater focus on improved social equity, quality of life and standard of living

Resources

Resources for new and developing cities and communities:

• Cities and Communities: Plan and Design v4.1 Rating System
• LEED v4.1 Cities and Communities: Plan and Design Guide
• LEED Credit Library

Resources for existing cities and communities:

• Cities and Communities: Existing v4.1 Rating System
• LEED v4.1 Cities and Communities: Existing Guide
• LEED Credit Library