Pringle Creek, a planned neighborhood in Salem, Ore.

A major ski resort and a former training site for disabled workers are among the projects aiming for certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Neighborhoods (ND) program, which will evaluate up to 120 pilot projects at various stages of planning and construction across the country. The program, which will notify selected applicants in mid-May, marks a departure for the green building council. LEED-ND is the first product to be developed in partnership with outside stakeholders — in this case, the Congress for the New Urbanism and the National Resources Defense Council. It is also the organization’s first rating system to move beyond individual buildings and focus on sustainable land use and transportation.

“One of the main criticisms of LEED is that you could get a building certified Gold or Platinum, and it could be located in a horrible place environmentally,” says Eliot Allen, a principal with Criterion Planners/Engineers, a Portland consulting firm and the primary certification reviewer for the new neighborhood category. What distinguishes LEED-ND is the emphasis on smart growth, Allen says. “In order to score points, the neighborhood has to be situated in a place that makes sense from a transportation standpoint.”

LEED-ND targets planned and existing neighborhoods; the focus is on high-density mixed-use communities that reduce automobile use. Although credits are awarded for LEED-certified buildings, most of the points revolve around location and transportation features such as walkable streets and bicycle paths; proximity of housing, schools and jobs; affordable housing; and conservation of farmland and open space. “LEED-ND will be an effective tool at focusing the discussion around sustainability,” says Eric Ridenour, an architect at Portland-based SERA Architects and a member of the LEED-ND corresponding committee. “It’s going to stimulate real debate about land use and development.”

Designed as a market transformation tool, LEED-ND certification will probably be easier and cheaper to achieve than LEED for New Construction, green building experts say. “Any developer that gets an ND certificate is likely to see a faster build-out and a premium price,” Allen says. Once the program opens to the public, he predicts: “We’re going to be busy.”

Vail Resort’s Ever Vail development will be located on existing transit lines and spring up on a brownfield currently occupied by a retail complex and the company’s vehicle maintenance shopyard. Courtesy Vail Resorts.