Last month the US Green Building Council announced three new social equity pilot credits as a part of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. According to the USGBC website, “Over 15% of Americans live in poverty. One of our most effective tools to address inequities in the building world is through LEED. The three pilot credits are:

1. The social equity in the project team pilot credit outlines strategies to positively affect the people connected directly with the building.
2. The social equity in the community pilot credit rewards project teams for identifying and responding to inequities faced by people of the local community.
3. The social equity in the supply chain pilot credit encourages project teams to use materials from suppliers or manufacturers that ensure basic human rights for their workers.”

From within the social impact design world this is an exciting development. While LEED has an international presence and can be linked to multi-million dollar industries and millions of dollars saved on energy costs, architecture that addresses social and economic inequities is a field that is still being defined. Despite this, it is clear that social impact design is a field of collaboration and to be built into the LEED process will mean opportunities for just that, more partners and bigger goals.

Congratulations to the team who made this happen: Emma Hughes, USGBC staff; Susan Kaplan, Co-chair; Joel Ann Todd, Co-chair; Heather Rosenberg; Raphael Sperry; Shawn Hesse; Brad Guy; Lance Hosey; Sara O’Mara; Alfonso Ponce and Max Zahniser.