Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) provides a set of rigorous guidelines for the construction of environmentally sustainable buildings. The program is run as a voluntary process in which participants agree to comply with distinctive 'green building' requirements. The process and its review follows the entire building sequence from a basic concept, throughout the construction, and until the building is occupied.
Projects enrolled in the LEED program are awarded certification based on the following six categories: Sustainable Sites (SS), Water Efficiency (WE), Energy and Atmosphere (EA), Materials and Resources (MR), Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and the Innovation and Design Process (ID). LEED protocol provides several options for the certification. Depending on its type, a project may attempt accreditation in a category emphasizing a sustainable design, construction or operation of buildings, homes, and neighborhoods. RIT is especially focused on sustainability in building design and construction, demonstrated by participation and accomplishments in the LEED for New Construction.
LEED process is systematically updated based on the review of it standards and input from system users. In LEED version 2.2, eligible buildings are awarded with the certification in one of four categories, based on the number of sustainable "points" approved by the reviewing panel: Certified (26 - 32 points), Silver (33 - 38 points), Gold (39 - 51 points), and Platinum (52 - 69 points). In the most recent LEED version 3, buildings can qualify as follows: Certified (40-49 points), Silver (50-59 points), Gold (60-70 points), and Platinum (80 points and above). The current status of the University's engagement in the LEED process is shown below.
LEED Summary
| LEED | Score | LEED | Approved Credits | Date | Case | |||||||
| Building | Target | Achieved | Version | SS | WE | EA | MR | EQ | ID | Total | Certified | Study |
| CAST | Undefined | Gold | 2.2 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 41 | 08, 2008 | Link |
| USC | Gold | Platinum | 2.2 | 13 | 4 | 15 | 8 | 12 | 5 | 57 | 12, 2010 | Link |
| GV | Silver | pending | 2.2 | |||||||||
| GIS | Platinum | pending | 3.0 | |||||||||
| IH | Gold | pending | 2.2 | |||||||||
