We make many decisions as involved participants in the green building community but we are often making them based on our current understanding of the LEED rating system and how it influences and transforms the current market. A historical analysis will point out where LEED and other initiatives fit into the larger world of standards and architectural movements over time. This perspective can be very useful in our day-to-day, practical decision-making that promotes a specific “how to” approach to the improvement of the way we build, and how standards and green building rating systems assist in this improvement.
    Learning objectives:

• Identify three specific standards that have improved or inhibited environmental aspects of building performance
• Describe and synthesize the impact of two past architectural movements and their impact on building design during the occurrence of that movement and afterward
• Organize a full summary of the current thinking and progress behind Standard 189 and explain where the U.S. Green Building Council is in the LEED Version 3.0 process