To get the surrounding community involved, it would be good for higher education institutions to look at LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED – ND). The USGBC states that LEED – ND focuses on transportation, preventing urban sprawl, vibrant neighborhood design, walkability, mix-use communities, and buildings designed to reduce energy and water use.[xii] The focus of LEED – ND is not each individual building but rather the community as a whole.[xiii] LEED – ND would work best with higher education institutions that are expanding, have major development, or are taking on redevelopment. To make the LEED – ND program grow, curriculum could be offered not just to the students at the institution but to the community members as well. For instance, classes could be offered to community members either on an institution’s campus or within community centers. If a whole community was aware of sustainability and of changes made for sustainability, it would probably be interested in learning how it would benefit. With the support of the community it is possible that the LEED – ND program would succeed in making changes in both how the community receives sustainability ideas and is effected by sustainability.
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[xiii] Id.
