Definition   In 1995, the U.S. Green Building Council developed LEED as a way to facilitate green building, sustainable design and construction. The U.S. Green Building Council is a non-profit organization. Their mission statement defines them as "coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work." (US Green Building Council: (www.usgbc.org). Members in this council are professionals that work in fields that affect building and construction. They include but are not limited to people from different governmental agencies (local, state and federal), architecture, landscape architecture, engineering firms, contractors, construction companies, environmental groups, and utilities. Council members work to form standards for achieving levels of sustainability while also allowing for innovations in how this is achieved. The pilot project, version 1 was released in 1998 and version 2 in 2000. It is based upon rating systems that exist in Canada and Europe.