Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design in the context of "Green building certification systems"

Green building (also known as green construction, sustainable building, or eco-friendly building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life cycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This requires close cooperation between the contractor, the architects, the engineers, and the client at all project stages. The Green Building practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Green building also refers to saving resources to the maximum extent, including energy saving, land saving, water saving, material saving, etc., during the whole life cycle of the building, protecting the environment and reducing pollution, providing people with healthy, comfortable and efficient use of space, and being in harmony with nature. Buildings that live in harmony; green building technology focuses on low consumption, high efficiency, economy, environmental protection, integration and optimization.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Other certification systems that confirm the sustainability of buildings are the British BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) for buildings and large-scale developments or the DGNB System (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen e.V.) which benchmarks the sustainability performance of buildings, indoor environments, and districts. Currently, the World Green Building Council is conducting research on the effects of green buildings on the health and productivity of their users and is working with the World Bank to promote green buildings in Emerging Markets through EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) Market Transformation Program and certification. There are also other tools such as NABERS or Green Star in Australia, Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) used in the Middle East and the Green Building Index (GBI) predominantly used in Malaysia.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), founded in 1993, is a private 501(c)(3), membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and operation. USGBC is best known for its development of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating systems and its annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. USGBC was one of eight national councils that helped found the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC).

Through its partnership with the Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), USGBC offers a suite of LEED professional credentials that denote expertise in the field of green building. USGBC incentivizes LEED certification by awarding extra certification points to building projects completed with a LEED-certified professional on staff.

The Bronx Library Center is a branch of the New York Public Library in the Fordham section of the Bronx in New York City. The library is located at 310 East Kingsbridge Road between Fordham Road and East 192nd Street, two blocks east of the Grand Concourse. It is the central library for the Bronx, and the largest library in the borough.

The library opened in January 2006, replacing the Fordham Branch Library, which had previously served the Bronx. At 78,000 square feet (7,200 m), it is the first "green" library in New York City with LEED Silver certification; it also has three times as much space as its predecessor. This building cost an estimated $50 million and is characterized by the sloping curve of its roof and the extensive glass curtain wall on the eastern elevation of the facade.

The Blue Condominium, also known as the Blue Tower, is located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City at 105 Norfolk Street. Designed by Bernard Tschumi, it is his first residential and first high-rise structure. At 16 stories tall, it opened in 2007 with 32 condominium apartments, a ground floor commercial space occupied by the Thierry Goldberg Gallery, and a third floor roof terrace for residents. Commercial at the ground floor with residential above is a common method of programming space in urban residential projects. The tower is not LEED certified. The faceted pixelated form, a reaction to the zoning and set back requirements, is clad in a blue panel and window curtain wall system, contrasting with the low rise brick buildings that typify the neighborhood.

The Taipei 101 (Chinese: 台北101; pinyin: Táiběi 101; stylized in all caps), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a 508 m (1,667 ft), 101-story skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. It is owned by Taipei Financial Center Corporation. It was officially classified as the world's tallest building from its opening on 31 December 2004, until it was dethroned by the Burj Khalifa in 2009. Upon completion, it became the world's first skyscraper to exceed half a kilometer. It is the tallest building in Taiwan and the eleventh tallest in the world.

The building's high-speed elevators were manufactured by Toshiba of Japan and held the record for the fastest in the world at the time of completion, transporting passengers from the 5th to the 89th floor in 37 seconds (attaining 60.6 km/h (37.7 mph)). In 2011, Taipei 101 was awarded a Platinum certificate rating under the LEED certification system for energy efficiency and environmental design, becoming the tallest and largest green building in the world. The structure regularly appears as an icon of Taipei in international media, and the Taipei 101 fireworks displays are a regular feature of New Year's Eve broadcasts and celebrations.

The Green Business Certification, Inc. (GBCI) is an American organization that provides third-party credentialing and verification for several rating systems relating to the built environment. It was established as the Green Building Certification Institute in January 2008 with the support of the U.S. Green Building Council to provide independent oversight of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) project certification and professional credentialing processes. The organization's current name was adopted on 16 April 2015 after the organization began to provide third-party certification for the International WELL Building Institute's evidence-based building standard WELL Building Standard, the Perfect Power Institute's PEER standard, and the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark.

Comcast Center, also known as the Comcast Tower, is a skyscraper at 1701 John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Center City, Philadelphia. The 58-story, 973-foot (297 m) tower is the second-tallest building in Philadelphia and in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the 31st-tallest building in the United States. Originally called One Pennsylvania Plaza when plans for the building were announced in 2001, the Comcast Center went through two redesigns before construction began in 2005. Comcast Center was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects for Liberty Property Trust.

In early 2005, the final redesign and its new name—the Comcast Center—were unveiled. The building is named after its lead tenant, cable company Comcast, which makes the skyscraper its corporate headquarters. Leasing 1,094,212 square feet (101,656 m), Comcast takes up 89 percent of the building. The building features retail and restaurant space and a connection to Suburban Station which is nearby. In Comcast Center's lobby is the Comcast Experience, which is a 2,000-square-foot (190 m) high-definition LED screen that has become a tourist attraction. Designed to be environmentally friendly, the skyscraper is the tallest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building in Philadelphia.