According to North Branch Construction, Inc. Bruce Blazon of has achieved the certification of LEED accredited professional by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Blazon is a vice president and project superintendent for North Branch. LEED professional accreditation distinguishes building professionals with the knowledge and skills to successfully steward the integrated design and LEED certification process. LEED accredited professionals demonstrate a thorough understanding of green building practices and principles and familiarity with LEED requirements, resources and processes. LEED is a self-assessing system designed for rating new and existing commercial, institutional, and high-rise residential buildings. It evaluates environmental performance from a "whole building" perspective over a building's life cycle, providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a green building. LEED is based on accepted energy and environmental principles and strikes a balance between known effective practices and emerging concepts. It is a feature-oriented system where credits are earned for satisfying each criteria. Different levels of green building certification are awarded based on the total credits earned.