The Impact of Sustainability Evolution on LEED Rating System

In recent decades, the understanding of sustainability has evolved across the world; what was once a novel concept has become commonplace. In the US construction sector, requirements for accreditation within various green building rating systems, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), have coincided with this evolution. With the upcoming sustainable development goals for 2030, there is an increased interest in adopting green buildings. Yet, perceptions of the value of green building rating systems such as LEED are varied, with some believing its cost are too high, and sustainability impacts are not substantial enough. Furthermore, there is a perception that LEED has become more challenging to achieve over time. This research used web scraping via an API to evaluate the prevalence of research around various green building rating systems over time. This research found that LEED resulted in the most widely accepted green building rating system, reasonably estimating these shifting sustainability trends compared with other green building rating systems. From there, natural language processing was performed across the most common rating systems (e.g., LEED, BREEAM, Green Star, CASBEE) to better understand the focus of research over distinct time intervals. Combined, these findings enable researchers to better understand the field in which research is progressing since the inception of sustainability and green buildings.