LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND)

The Nation's First Rating System for Green Neighborhoods

CNU has partnered with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) to lay out a coordinated and powerful environmental strategy: sustainability at the scale of neighborhoods and communities. The joint venture, known as LEED for Neighborhood Development (or LEED-ND), is a system for rating and certifying green neighborhoods. LEED-ND builds on USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) systems, the world's best-known third-party verification that a development meets high standards for environmental responsibility. LEED-ND integrates the principles of new urbanism, green building, and smart growth into the first national standard for neighborhood design, expanding LEED's scope beyond individual buildings to a more holistic concern about the context of those buildings.

LEED-ND 2009 Final Version

• LEED 2009 for Neighborhood Development Rating System
  (ZIP - 12 MB)
• Project Checklist

General Information

• LEED-ND Public Presentation
• LEED-ND Background
• Frequently Asked Questions

Contact

Alex McKeag, CNU Program Manager, 312.551-7300, amckeag {at} cnu org

• LEED-ND Project Certification FAQ
• LEED-ND Program FAQ

LEED-ND Resources

• A Citizen's Guide to LEED for Neighborhood Development is a handbook to help anyone interested in green practices learn, in user-friendly fashion, the ingredients that can make a neighborhood-scale development green. The Guide also includes a “Sustainable Neighborhood Development Checklist.” The checklist is a sort of “crib sheet” for every LEED-ND credit and prerequisite, presenting them in an easy-to-use format for evaluating development proposals, assessing existing neighborhoods, and informing community planning and policy.
• A Local Government Guide to LEED for Neighborhood Development explores how LEED-ND can be best used by local governments to achieve sustainability goals.
• The LEED Reference Guide for Green Neighborhood Development is now available in hardcopy and e-book. CNU Members receive a discount, visit Member Benefits for code.