The
U.S. Green Building Council (not affiliated with the US government)
corporation and its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program is the biggest name in green-energy standards. It's member-driven, so doesn't need to sell a product, it sells good intentions instead.
That may be part of the problem; it's "green" standards may not be helping much at all.
Henry Gifford of energysavingscience.com has made his living designing energy-efficient buildings in New York City. He has been a vocal opponent of LEED, claiming that the program’s “big return on investment” is more a matter of faith than fact, and that LEED is simply “a big lie to the public.”
He has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Green Building Council to the tune of $100 million because he says their marketing and unscientific claims are damaging business prospects for legitimate experts in energy-efficient design, like himself.
The building sector consumes 49 percent of all energy produced in the United States and 77 percent of all the electricity produced in the nation is used to operate buildings, similar to other industrial countries worldwide.
If LEED is making money promoting useless standards that reduce usage little while individuals are being told to keep their houses at 80 degrees Fahrenheit this summer, Gifford will be performing a valuable service.
But is he? How did he make that determination?
Gifford’s looked at the 2008 National Buildings Institute study, partly funded by the Green Building Council, to examine energy performance of LEED-certified commercial buildings. Currently the most comprehensive public body of data on the subject, the study analyzed energy use of certified buildings and compared that with average energy use of commercial buildings as reported by the Energy Department.
While LEED claimed its buildings were 25% more efficient, Gifford used the same data and ran his own analysis and discovered their buildings were actually less efficient.
Stay tuned.
Is LEED the Gold Standard in Green? - Ben Ikenson, Miller-McCune.
