LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, which provides third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies geared towards improving performance across five major green goals: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.
The rating system is specific to the type of project being worked on. Some of the specific programs are LEED-New Construction, LEED-Existing Buildings, LEED-Commercial Interiors, LEED-Core and Shell, LEED-Homes, LEED-Neighborhood Development, LEED-Schools. The rating systems are broken down into points for each type of credit. Certification levels within the systems are: Certified (minimum points), silver, gold, and platinum (maximum points.) Learn more on the official website (and the source for this information) www.usgbc.org.