Critics Say:
"LEED certification has never depended on actual energy use, and it's not going to," he says. "You can use as much energy as you want and report it and keep your plaque."
The business of green building is growing rapidly, even though the construction market as a whole has been in a slump. The U.S. Green Building Council, or USGBC, and its certification system are changing the industy! The company is influencing policy, but some critics say it isn't delivering on its environmental promises. Here's one such story.
In Washington, LEED Is Law.
Stoddert Elementary School in Washington, D.C., is the site of a sparkling new building addition and rehab. Last month, crews were still putting the finishing touches on the landscaping and a new glass wall that blends into a beautiful 1932 brick schoolhouse. The school is expected to earn LEED Gold certification for its renovation and new addition.
"Architecture can no longer be just sculpture," says Rick Fedrizzi, head of the USGBC, the private nonprofit that runs the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification system known as LEED. Architecture must be about performance, Fedrizzi says, especially in the case of schools.
"We have the ability through the bricks and mortar to change the way our kids learn, absorb information, interact with their teacher, and ultimately have the ability for a much more productive life," he says. "It's a moral objective of all of us to make sure that this happens across the board."
In Washington, it's more than an objective — it is the law. All new public buildings must achieve LEED certification.
LEED is a force to be reckoned with in the construction world. Fourteen federal departments and agencies, 34 states and more than 200 local governments now encourage or require LEED certification. Some places offer incentives to certify. Others, like Washington, mandate it as a kind of code.
Under LEED, the environmentally conscious features of Stoddert will be tallied up, and the USGBC will award a plaque certifying the school as a green building.
Noise Levels And Air Quality
Architect Mary Rose Rankin of Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn says the designers paid a lot of attention to the acoustics of this building because noise levels are important for learning. It's one of the LEED requirements.
Indoor air quality is another priority. Rankin says she expects the school's new geothermal heating and cooling system to save a lot of energy.
"Our model shows a savings of around 29 to 30 percent over what a comparable baseline building would be of similar size," she says. "That's 30 percent a year. And payback, for instance, for our geothermal system should be around six to eight years."
Critics of LEED have long said it doesn't put enough emphasis on saving energy. One of the most assertive is Henry Gifford, a New York apartment building owner turned energy efficiency expert.
"It's impossible to go out and buy a building with a guarantee for how much energy it won't use," he says. "And the LEED system, by basing everything on energy predictions, continues that. This is one of the reasons why it's so popular — because it's painless."
Questioning The LEED Certification
A couple of years ago, Gifford sparked a firestorm by challenging a study funded by the USGBC that concluded that LEED buildings save energy. He says the methodology was flawed and the numbers really show that those LEED buildings used more energy than their peers.
Gifford's bottom line is that LEED awards certification before the energy savings are proved.
Gifford says LEED should have teeth. If the building doesn't perform as predicted, yank the certification. And as for the growing number of governments that require LEED?
At the USGBC's platinum-certified office space in Washington, Fedrizzi walks past the two-story waterfall in the lobby to show off some energy-saving features. Natural light streams in, bouncing off white carpet and ceiling panels to illuminate the workstations. He says the lights are rarely turned on.
"LEED buildings are significantly more energy efficient than your typical building stock," he says.
When asked about Gifford's charges that LEED doesn't live up to projections, Fedrizzi says ultimately it's not just about the design — it's about how the building is run.
"What really needs to happen is the transformation of the owners and the operators of the buildings to ensure that the building is being operated properly," he says. "I like to say you can get the same gas mileage out of a Prius that you get from a Hummer if you drive it incorrectly."
So should there be a system put in place of checks and balances to guarantee that what is being paid for in certification is indeed putting out as it says? Should LEED be able to be written into law? With small towns and cities headed that way the criticism is sure to come out in heavier doses.
The most striking thing about the business of LEED is how the system is being woven into the fabric of the building industry. Even in new buildings that are not LEED these days, many use it as a reference in the project specs. Regardless of the economic downturn, despite questions about performance, LEED is capitalizing on the desire for better buildings and pulling the market toward green.
