11.14.2006 - 10:05am ET

(CSRwire) MADISON, WI, November 14, 2006--Leonardo Academy announced today the kickoff of development of SPEED-E for Vehicles - the Sustainability Rating System for vehicles as an ANSI Standard. SPEED-E stands for Sustainable Performance and Environmentally Efficient Design Excellence. SPEED-E for Vehicles is the first third-party standard for analyzing the sustainability of cars, trucks and other vehicles. SPEED-E for Vehicles Rating System is a voluntary standard that will rate, compare and communicate the sustainability of vehicles over their entire life cycle. SPEED-E for Vehicles will make it easier for vehicle consumers to integrate environmental performance into their purchasing decisions, by providing at a glance summaries of the over all sustainability ratings of vehicles. SPEED-E for Vehicles will help vehicle manufacturers design, produce and sell more sustainable vehicles.

With the big three American auto makers meeting with President Bush today to make American auto makers more competitive in world markets, it is important to note that making vehicles more sustainable is key to the long term success of all auto makers. Michael Arny, President of Leonardo Academy said, "To succeed long term auto makers need to make cars that both meet consumers needs, expectations and dreams so they want to buy these cars AND are more sustainable so these cars contribute to an going environmental improvement the world needs."

SPEED-E for Vehicles will also help consumers.

"Right now, car shoppers have a hard time finding information about a car's environmental performance beyond the gas mileage" notes Leonardo Academy President Michael Arny. "By measuring bumper-to-bumper sustainability over vehicles' entire lifecycle of the vehicle, SPEED-E for Vehicles will change all this and make it easy for consumers understand the environmental impacts of their vehicle choices. SPEED-E for Vehicles will also provide manufacturers with a valuable framework for designing, manufacturing, and selling more sustainable vehicles. Just as the US Green Building Council's LEED Rating System has revolutionized and energized the development and operation of sustainable buildings, SPEED-E for Vehicles will energize the design, manufacture and use of sustainable vehicles."

SPEED-E for Sustainable Vehicles Standard is being developed as an ANSI standard. Leonardo Academy is an accredited ANSI standards developer. Leonardo Academy (www.leonardoacademy.org) is currently gathering participants for the SPEED-E for Vehicles development and pilot testing of the rating system.

ANSI PROJECT INFORMATION - The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private, non-profit organization (501c3) that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Leonardo Academy is an ANSI (www.ansi.org) accredited standards developer, and this project will be carried out in accordance with Leonardo Academy's ANSI approved standard development process. This project has been announced through the ANSI Project Initiation Notification System.

ABOUT LEONARDO ACADEMY -- Leonardo Academy Makes Sustainability Practical by developing outcome-focused products and resources that facilitate sustainability. Leonardo Academy develops rating systems, certification programs, educational resources and other tools that make practicing sustainability practical. Leonardo Academy works to put the competitive market to work on improving the environment. Leonardo Academy's Cleaner and Greenersm Program (www.cleanerandgreener.org) provides certification of the offsetting of the emissions caused by events and organizations. This program has certified the offsetting of emissions for the 2002 Winter Olympics, each of the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Greenbuild conferences since 2002, and numerous other events. Other areas of Leonardo Academy work include the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED® rating system. Michael Arny, the president of Leonardo Academy, was the chair of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) Committee from 2001-2005 and led the Committee's work on the development of LEED-EB. Leonardo Academy has supported the LEED-EB program as a contractor to the U.S. Green Building Council since 2001. In this role, Leonardo Academy managed the LEED-EB Pilot Program, was the primary author of the LEED-EB Reference Guide and has conducted all the LEED-EB certification reviews to date for the U.S. Green Building Council. Leonardo Academy is a charitable (501c3) nonprofit organization. For more information about Leonardo Academy visit our web site www.leonardoacademy.org or call 608-280-0255.

For more information please contact: