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About Green Buildings

In many ways, buildings "grow" like plants and animals: they use resources, produce waste, and are connected to their environment. But unlike animals and plants, buildings often operate independently of their environment, using more resources and creating more waste than they should.

What is a LEED Green Building?

In 2004, the Green Building Council of Canada published a set of guidelines to help people design more environmentally friendly buildings. This rating system for buildings – called LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design – is organized into six categories:

	Sustainable Sites Or, being a good neighbour by limiting the building's impacts on the local environment, both during and after construction.
	Water Efficiency Finding ways to reuse and recycle the building’s water, in order to use less of the city’s water supply.
	Energy & Atmosphere Designing an energy-efficient building that minimizes greenhouse gas emissions.
	Materials & Resources Reusing and recycling construction materials to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, and buying materials from local suppliers.
	Indoor Environmental Quality Ensuring that the building is always circulating clean, fresh air from outside.
	Innovation & Design Process Designing creative ways to save energy & resources and reduce waste.

When construction is finished, the Discovery Education Centre will be independently audited against the guidelines in each of the above LEED categories. It will then be awarded a rating (e.g. Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum) based on its performance. We’re pursuing a LEED Gold certification.

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