Have you ever walked past one of those shiny, official-looking LEED plaques on the side of a building and wondered what it was? It’s meant to capture attention and signal how environmentally sustainable the building is. But, did you know that behind the plaque are criticisms like “false advertising,” “greenwashing,” “pricey” and “ineffective?”
With building construction and operations accounting for more than ⅓ of all carbon dioxide emissions globally, advancing building sustainability is increasingly important. In an attempt to lower emissions, LEED plaques have been given to over 100,000 building projects in the world.
What is LEED?
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is the most prominent rating system for green building projects in the world. Started in 1998 by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) non-profit, the voluntary program strives to make the building and construction sector more green by providing a 3rd-party metric of sustainability.
What does LEED evaluate?
LEED rates a project’s sustainability based on the site location, the materials and resources used, the amount of water and energy consumed, the indoor environmental quality (IEQ), and the total carbon footprint. Considering all these elements together, during construction and long-term operation, LEED emphasizes the importance of using an integrative green building approach to support human and environmental health.
How are LEED projects actually rated?
LEED uses a credit scoring system to rate sustainability. These ratings vary slightly depending on which type of development— broken down into several categories and subcategories— a project falls under. For example, Schools are a specific subcategory of Building Design and Construction projects while Warehouses and Distribution Centers are a subcategory of Operation and Maintenance Projects.
All LEED projects, regardless of category, are rated out of 110 possible points. To earn any points, projects must first meet basic green design standards. In the case of school buildings, for instance, it is required that they have an erosion and sedimentation plan in place during construction to prevent pollution.
After meeting these basic prerequisites, projects can then earn points through design features or considerations. For example, a school project can earn a point by building on previously developed land or by avoiding sensitive land (i.e. prime farmlands, floodplains, endangered species habitats, or wetlands). In the case of the “sensitive land protection” point, the goal is to strengthen community resilience and to protect ecosystems.
These points add up to qualify projects for different levels of LEED certification. Platinum projects have 80+ points, gold have 60-79 points, silver have 50-59 points, and certified have 40-49 points. Now you know why those plaques come in different colors.
Is the certification expensive?
Critics and the media often claim LEED has a big price tag. While it can, it really depends on the project.
All LEED projects pay a flat-rate registration fee and an additional certification fee. For example, registration for a single-family home costs $150 and certification costs $225. For bigger commercial projects with a gross floor area of 250,000 to 499,999 square feet, the flat fee costs $4,500 (per building), registration costs $1,350, and certification- calculated per square foot- costs a minimum of $16,000. At the very least, these commercial projects cost $21,850.
In the long run, a building’s energy efficiency will likely save much more money than the expense of the certification fees for its owners.
Are LEED buildings more energy-efficient than traditional ones?
That last point on LEED’s energy efficiency is a controversial one. USGBC claims that LEED buildings use 25% less energy than their traditional counterparts. Yet, this claim is often challenged by concerned citizens and researchers who scrutinize LEED’s energy budgets. In one study, researchers found that LEED buildings consume equal energy or, in some cases, more energy than traditional buildings.
Another study found that while buildings with higher LEED certifications (i.e. Platinum or Gold) do consume less energy, that isn’t true for certified buildings that only meet LEED’s basic requirements.
Unfortunately, for now, the energy efficiency of silver and certified LEED projects remains largely debated.
Are LEED standards and regulations strict “enough”?
With its energy performance under debate, people argue that LEED needs higher standards, starting with the point system.
Building owners can earn points to get a shinier plaque (i.e. Platinum or Gold) through simple, cheap, and often random design components that have only minimal environmental benefits. For example, school projects can earn a point by installing a bike rack or by being within ¼ to ½ mile of an existing public transit stop.
Critics point to these examples as reasons that the point system is flawed. In response, USGBC has made it clear that all LEED buildings have to meet certain standards (i.e. the prerequisites) before being able to earn points. They explain that there is no way to circumvent the required sustainability prerequisites, making the critics’ claims unfounded.
What if there is another way to game the system?
LEED certifications are largely based on models of how building systems will function, not on actual performance. Because of this, design and construction projects can be certified before they are 100% complete. That means a building can be LEED-certified even if it doesn’t fulfill its sustainability goals in practice. For example, the Bank of America Tower in NYC earned a Platinum plaque based on its design. Now that it is in use, however, it turns out it consumes more energy than its neighboring skyscrapers.
USGBC says that buildings must remain compliant after certification, stating that all projects must continue to record their energy and water consumption. But, like the Bank of America Tower, a building can be certified without meeting its sustainability goals.
As critics point out, LEED’s model-based forecasts, in addition to its point system, means sustainability slips through the cracks of even the greenest building designs. LEED’s gaps reveal the need for stricter standards.
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Despite its controversies, LEED is striving to lead a green transition to support us and the places where we live. However, with its effectiveness and standards in question, the current version of LEED should only be seen as an early iteration of the sustainability programs to come. With tighter standards that are better informed by additional research, LEED has the potential to make development even more sustainable in the future.
Image Credit: Flickr