The current standard for sustainable building practices is more than just energy conservation and recycled materials.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, is a nationally recognized green building rating system that defines and measures the sustainability of existing and future building structures.

For achieving LEED certification there are certain rating systems that pertain to each type of construction, ranging from school construction to remodels and health care facilities. Although LEED may pertain to many types of structures, there are five main categories each structure is rated on: site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

According to the United States Green Building Council Web site, some of the professions that have adopted LEED standards as the norm in sustainability include architects, real estate professionals, facility managers, engineers, interior designers, landscape architects, construction managers, lenders and government officials.

Sustainable building encompasses a large number of variables, such as using recycled building materials and water and energy more efficiently, but ultimately LEED is the measure of a building’s footprint on the environment.

By using LEED as a guideline, professionals in the architecture field have a basis for what being “green” really means.

When it comes time for a building to submit its LEED data to be reviewed, it is entered in an online data form. Dean Morton, university architect for facilities planning and management, said that at this point in the process, the submitter usually knows where their ratings stand and that the final decision is up to the discretion of the reviewer.

“Once you fill out the form you already have an idea [of what you will score], although there is always some little glitch,” Morton said.

Jenny Baker, lecturer in civil, construction and environmental engineering, said achieving sustainability can mean a range of things for a university.

She said small things, such as updating lighting systems from metallic ballasts to electronic ballasts, can make a huge difference in energy costs. Other tactics, such as installing occupancy controls in classrooms and making heating and air-conditioning systems run on less energy, are good ways to increase the overall LEED rating for a given building.

However, having a building become LEED certified can increase construction costs in existing buildings, a problem that has become familiar to Iowa State.

Morton said the facilities, planning and management department has received funding from the state legislature and utility companies, but not nearly enough to make up the difference. He said there is currently “no honest discussion on existing buildings [becoming LEED certified],” but he does have hope that that trend will soon come to an end.

“In 10 years, I hope we are doing buildings above the level of LEED,” he said.