I had 2 emails in response to my topic on movable walls and LEED, both very different. The first email asked me to explain what LEED means. The most comprehensive way to explain LEED is to send you off to www.usgbc.org and have you read their full content website. But in a nutshell, LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a program the US Green Building Council issued with a rating system that anyone can choose to comply with for new construction, major renovations, interiors etc. It is an incentive program for green design, integrated design, elegant design and good design. It is also a recognition and publicity medium. For all those out there, I did have a question on my LEED - AP test that asked what LEED stood for - so don't forget the exact words!!

LEED has become a name for green design and it now stands for a building or space that is constructed in a responsible manner that minimizes environmental impacts of the building on the environment, it's community and on the health of it's occupants. We see LEED written on RFP's as a term for sustainable design. Instead of calling buildings LEED, we really need to be saying that a building is a High Performance Building. After all, a green building is a profitable building, it costs less to run. Or instead of saying you are looking at LEED for your interiors project, why not say you are interested in the use of materials and furniture that are sustainable, use cradle - to - cradle design, are free of gross chemicals, use post-consumer recycled content etc. There are tons of things you can do to make a space green without using a LEED rating system or process. Every little bit helps.

But back to the use of LEED as a word for green design. You can buy and do things that are green and are good decisions for business and the environment. But that is not what LEED is - LEED is really about collaborative design and utilizing a different approach to the cost and price of construction. Is it really cheaper to choose low bid? Or is there value to choosing a team that can work together to build a great product, whether they are low bid or not? That is what LEED tries to address.

The second email I received was from a reader at Affinity Building Products who sent me some really interesting information on their BestBoard building products and how they are green.