The U.S. Green Building Council developed LEED, an internationally recognized green building certification system, to provide third-party verification that abuilding or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

Currently 34 states, 12 federal agencies, more than 200 localities and 50,000 projects have all chosen LEED. There are over 140,000 LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED APs) in the United States.