The USGBC public comment period for LEED 2009 will be open until this Sunday, June 22, 2008 at 5 PM PST. Any member of the public may comment on the proposed changes to LEED. USGBC will respond to all comments and post the comments and responses (without commenter names or organizations) to the USGBC Web site. If changes are made as a result of comments, a 15-day second public comment period will be conducted on those changes. The resulting draft will then be sent to USGBC membership primary contacts for ballot. Visit the public drafts page for more information and to participate.

Since the opening of the public comment period, we’ve gotten lots of questions about how LEED 2009 will (and won’t) affect other USGBC program areas. Here are some quick facts to respond to the most frequently asked questions:

• LEED 2009 is part of LEED Version 3 (v3); LEED 2009 refers to the LEED technical rating system.
• The current versions of the LEED AP exams will be available through 2008.
• Beginning in early 2009, after the new version of LEED launches, the AP Exams will be updated to reflect the changes.
• Updated LEED Workshops that reflect LEED 2009 will be offered beginning at USGBC’s annual Greenbuild Conference & Expo in Boston during November of this year.
• Projects registered under a current version of LEED will have the option of either “updating” to LEED 2009 or continuing with the system under which they originally registered.
• LEED 2009 only applies to commercial building applications and their existing rating systems (LEED for: New Construction, Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, Commercial Interiors, Schools, and Core & Shell). LEED for Homes will be updated next year for anticipated release in 2010.

Please contact leedinfo@usgbc.org with any questions. Visit the LEED 2009 page for more information.