LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a certification program and scoring system run by the US Green Building Council that evaluates the environmental performance of buildings. LEED provides homeowners, builders, and buyers a standardized measure of a building's sustainability through factors like energy efficiency, water usage, emissions, and indoor air quality. The use of LEED and green building practices has grown as more construction focuses on cost-effective and environmentally-friendly design.