Does LEED Mean Anything?

More and more architects are coming out and saying out loud what a lot of people have thought all along. Getting LEED certification is good PR but not necessarily a good way to preserve the environment. An article in Fast Company explains that developers reach for easy solutions but not effective ones when it comes to being seen as one of the good guys. Like the people who drive a hybrid Hummer to the corner store.

There are all sorts of simple and inexpensive ways to get LEED points and some of them are very visible to potential tenants. The fact that the building is of a form that wastes huge amounts of energy is not a big deal as long as you have a long enough list of things that save energy, like bicycle racks. Having solar panels is a huge publicity boost and LEED point getter, even though it make less impact to the energy use than, say, the design of windows. Building two ordinary four-storey buildings is a lot more environmentally friendly than one 8-storey one, but it doesn't get you LEED certification. You get that by building the inefficient building then adding gimmicks until you collect enough points.

Tags: Urban Design Green Buildings LEED Energy

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