Members of the U.S. Green Building Council have voted to adopt LEED v4, the next update to the organization’s green building rating system. The final overall vote was 86% in favor of adopting the new version.

“There are 46 countries and territories around the world and all 50 U.S. states represented in the voting pool for LEED v4, which includes an extraordinarily diverse group of industry professionals, manufacturers, educators, and other green building leaders,” said Joel Ann Todd, chair of the LEED steering committee. “USGBC sets a very high bar for a rating system to be approved. The rating system must earn a significant percentage of the overall vote as well as a majority approval from each of the various LEED stakeholder groups. This ensures that rating system approval represents the full diversity of USGBC’s membership.”

Over the course of LEED’s development cycle, the program undergoes a series of public comment periods ending with a final ballot, during which USGBC members vote on whether to adopt the changes within the final proposed system.

“This update of LEED builds on the past while offering new requirements, preparing all LEED projects to achieve higher levels of building performance and positive environmental outcomes,” said Scot Horst, senior vice president of LEED for USGBC. “This newest version of LEED challenges the market to make the next leap toward better, cleaner, healthier buildings. I am confident that people will also notice the improved usability of the system with an improved documentation process and more resources and tools to assist and support positive action.”

Starting this summer, USGBC will offer education on LEED v4 in the form of webinar suites, and the full program, along with reference guides, will be unveiled at this year’s Greenbuild International Conference & Expo.