...existing buildings. So it is having an effect in that it is growing the existing building and retrofit market. The retrofit market is where a lot of the incentive money is going.

NYC: The USGBC recently introduced LEED 2009 (also know has LEED v.3). How do you see this new version of LEED impacting green building?

RU: LEED 2009 it is an extraordinary accomplishment. It is a really important, substantive evolution in LEED. It shows the robustness of the system that it can adapt and continue to evolve and improve.

While LEED 2009 is not changing the credits in LEED, it has expanded the number of points. And in doing so it adds weights to parts of LEED, particularly energy, water and the location of the building and its proximity to transportation.

Many people thinking at a policy level probably would agree that energy, water and site aspects were being underemphasized in past versions of LEED. USGBC directly addressed those concerns with LEED 2009. I am a huge fan. It will help ensure LEED’s place in the market for the foreseeable future.

TR: I don’t know if it is going to make the building certification process any harder or easier. It is a process that you have to go through. I don’t think the process has changed all that much, you still have to go through a process. It is more a mind set.

What is actually providing another level of difficulty is the LEED AP plus accreditation. You have to become a LEED Green Associate as a first step and then you have to have worked on a LEED project to become an AP. So it is not going to make it any easier to become a LEED designated professional. It is going to make it, in fact, more difficult. But at the end of the day, those accredited professionals will really have earned it.

FB: In my mind the most significant improvement is how they reweighted the categories. There is a more transparent weighting of credits for both environmental and human impacts and they added regionalization. Right now green strategies that are appropriate for the northeast are not necessarily appropriate for the southwest, so they are adding points that apply to the region where the project is taking place.

There is also a new tiered credentialing system with continuing educational requirements that did not exist before. Now you can be a LEED green associate, you can be a LEED AP (accredited professional) in commercial interiors, an AP in new construction or existing buildings. You now have very specific accreditation and you can have multiple accreditations. What it does is it distinguishes where in LEED you fall. You would have attorneys get a LEED AP but it does not mean that they could build a building. There is also a requirement for continuing education that did not previously exist.

Coincident with the new version the GBCI (Green Building Certification Institute) was created. They have taken the accreditation and certification of building into that organization. It will be more objective and eliminate any potential conflicts of interest.

They have also launched the building performance initiative. This is a process and methodology that will provide feedback to owners and help them address performance gaps that stem from predicted versus actual building performance.

NYC: Are you pleased with where LEED is today?

RU: The change from version 2.2 to 2009 was a tremendous advancement and I am thrilled about that. LEED is the dominant green building rating system in the country and the world and I think for good reason. USGBC is not resting on its laurels. It continues to improve the system and I think that is great.

The question is, and it is a challenge for all of us, how do we bring LEED from a signature, unusual element and make what is now LEED, at least the practices, standard across the industry. The goal is not to have a handful of...