Throughout the Wolf Gordon website, you will see the phrase “LEED Certified” in the description on many of our products. But what, exactly, does “LEED Certified” mean? Let us explain.
What is LEED?
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a certification granted by the United States Green Building Council. According to the USGBC’s website, LEED is “a green building certification program that recognizes best-in-class building strategies and practices.” To receive the LEED Certified designation, commercial buildings must show that they were designed, built and are being operated to use the optimum location; to reduce water consumption; to minimize the use of non-renewable energy; to use sustainable materials; and to provide a healthy setting for people to work or live.
At its core, LEED is a tool that helps architects, engineers, and contractors who are concerned about the environment develop a plan to ensure that the buildings they construct do not have a negative impact on the environment. Unlike other environmental programs, it looks at the total effects the building has on the environment, not just water conservation or energy efficiency.
LEED helps in other significant ways, too. It is an internationally recognized certification, which really helps developers raise funds and promote their sustainability projects. It also helps prevent companies from making false sustainability claims. And, it helps consumers who are concerned about the environment rank different building projects on the same scale.
There are five rating systems to cover different types of projects. Wolf Gordon’s products with “LEED Certified” in the description are certified under the Interior Design and Construction rating system. This rating system ranks buildings on such factors as thermal comfort, interior lighting, quality views, acoustic performance, air quality, source of raw materials, material ingredients, and use of low-emitting materials.
How Does Wolf Gordon Help?
Wolf Gordon cares about the environment. It helps make green projects easier for builders by providing a large selection of interior design materials that are LEED Certified, including wallcoverings, upholstery, and drapery fabrics. This enables contractors who are planning LEED-certified projects to ensure they are choosing the right interior materials, which is critical to the project’s successful certification.
Wolf Gordon’s LEED Certified products come with a customized Sustainability & LEED Data form, which provides all of the necessary documentation to help the building developer through the certification’s application process. This documentation includes the following information: the location of manufacturing, recycled content, bio-based material content, VOCs, and other green building criteria.
Are you planning a LEED Certified building? Contact a Wolf Gordon sales representative today. Each representative is well-versed in our complete line of LEED Certified products, and they can help the contractor choose the best sustainable products for the individual project.
