Earlier this year, USGBC announced a total footprint of 2 billion square feet in LEED certified projects, and an additional 7 billion square feeet of registered in-process LEED projects. As LEED’s profound marketplace influence continues to strengthen, many are wondering what new drivers will soon be introduced by USGBC and what impact these may have on the tile industry.

The last major revision to the LEED rating system for new construction and major renovations occurred in 2009. For the past couple of years, an updated version has been in the works. Previously set to launch by the end of this year, the next version (Version 4) is now expected to be released by mid-2013.

Among the hundreds of forthcoming updates to LEED, there are two areas under revision which are especially relevant to the tile industry:

1. Exemption from Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Testing Requirements: First introduced in April 2010 as an addendum to LEED 2009, tile will continue to be exempt from VOC emission testing. The most recent draft of LEED 2012 has such language integrated into the rating system criteria. In the drafted criteria, there is a new section titled “Inherently Non-Emitting Sources,” which reads as follows: “Products that are inherently non-emitting sources of VOCs – specifically stone, ceramic…glass, concrete, clay brick…are considered fully compliant without any VOC emissions testing if they do not include integral organic-based surface coatings, binders or sealants.”
2. Major Revisions to Materials and Resources (MR) Chapter: The revised MR chapter of LEED will focus less on single-attribute sustainability (regional materials, recycled content, etc.) and more on product transparency and multi-attribute sustainability. Although this section is still very much under revision, the LEED Pilot Credit Program provides an indication of how its potential criteria are being tested and might evolve. Currently, criteria for products with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) have already been included in the LEED 2012 draft, and USGBC is drafting Pilot Credit criteria for products which meet multi-attribute sustainability standards such as Green Squared®.

Few would argue that LEED has been the biggest driving force in green architectural initiatives in the United States and worldwide over the past decade. With major revisions to LEED in the works, it will be interesting to see how initiatives continue to evolve in the years ahead.