Don’t LEED Astray

Recently a friend and I attended a day-long LEED workshop in Santa Monica.  The instructor was enthusiastic and knowledgeable (in fact, he stayed an extra hour to cover the material with us); the class small, providing a  great opportunity to cram in more information; and the venue was a LEED-certified silver showroom, giving us live examples of more sustainable building and interior design.

In a nutshell, LEED and the US Green Building Council provides a suite of standards for the green building industry.  The Bank of America Tower in New York City is the first Platinum LEED skyscraper; the University of Minnesota’s football stadium opened this year, this first such venue meeting LEED standards.  The LEED guidelines encourage revamping old buildings, and bring to light trade-offs:  windows capturing lots of sunlight, for example, could also mean increased air conditioning costs.  What I respect about the LEED approach is its holistic approach to architecture and construction, with an emphasis on reducing construction waste, one of the largest environmental and energy problems that gains the least amount of attention.

As with any test preparation class, you have the one heckler who stirs the pot; in our case, someone who was 40 minutes late, who always asked for a break, and was on his iPhone the entire day, which is odd considering he made an exasperated announcement that he had failed his previous attempt at passing the LEED examination.  And, as to be expected, he only wanted to know what he needed to know in order to pass the class.  At one point, when my fellow classmate-for-the-day asked another question, he sneered and whined, “You know, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I think with the limited time we should only focus on what we need to know to pass the test.”  Never mind the fact that rote memorization is not enough; some critical thinking is needed, and the margin for error—which means spending another $200 to take the exam—is narrow.

And therein lies some problems with LEED.  Many of the folks striving for LEED accreditation do so because it opens up job opportunities, or their employer tells them to take it, or because well, everyone else in their field is following the trend.  So you have a disconnect between the building owner or tenant, and the LEED-certified designer who has the successfully passed exam in his or her kit . . . but a shallow understanding of what it means to construct a truly sustainable building.

The results?  Sometimes you have eco-friendly buildings in areas that are remote or lack any public transportation available.  You've got enormous office parks that have the LEED stamp of approval.  Once a building is deemed LEED, there’s no renewal process.  I’ve seen LEED interiors with Styrofoam and plastic cups stored everywhere . . . and then have walked outside and seen zero recycling containers for beverage containers, a shame since that is one of the most simple practices to implement in any office building.  I’ve also driven by LEED certified buildings at night . . . with all the lights on.  Even worse are interiors that have been modified after the certification process--with building materials that are hardly healthy or sustainably manufactured.  And some extreme examples are solar panels . . . on a wall, not angled towards the sun . . . in the end, LEED uses a point system that gives points for assuming a design will result in energy savings—not for proving such measures will occur.

Well all take these exam prep courses with a goal in mind, to pass a test.  LEED and the USGBC are working hard to expand the LEED certifications to more professionals, which can only engender more awareness.  But it’s not enough to think your workplace is built responsibly; so much involving sustainable construction continues after the ribbon cutting ceremony, and this is where LEED needs a little more rigor.

If you've been involved with a LEED project, we'd love to hear about your experience!