Practice Management Member Conversations

regarding the LEED lawsuit:
I too, have some issues with this particular lawsuit, but I HAVE to comment on one thing that I read all the time -- that LEED is "voluntary".

That simply isn't the case.  In many large cities (LA, San Francisco, Seattle, ) LEED is built into the zoning system, and there are zoning bonuses, faster review times, and subsidy of fees for meeting some LEED standard or another (typically: LEED silver).  Many states, the GSA, a number of college campuses, and other owners require LEED compliance as part of their building program, and even if you approach those owners about other building rating systems, they often do not have the option of selecting another system.

These lawsuits are going to continue, and eventually someone is going to hit the USGBC hard.  None of the municipalities, Owners, governments (and etc) are capable of handing out a LEED certification for a building or for that matter contesting a missed point, because its not the city that makes the determination -- its an organization that is not accountable to ANYONE.  A city that adopts the LEED rating system is forfeiting some of their review and "police power" to a non-profit organization that has no obligation to make their records public or accessible.  If you try, (as a client of mine did once) to find out what makes that schlocky building down the street qualify for that LEED silver plaque, the USGBC will tell you those records are not available for review (unlike any set of building plans that are on record at the reviewing agency).

LEED is hardly voluntary; and once you make a privately owned rating system part of the building code by default, the lawsuits will follow.  You already see the USGBC backpeddle on their "better life, better health" claims about LEED buildings, because they aren't uniformly supportable, and we're starting to see that the energy savings -- the theoretical "point" of LEED -- is also not uniformly supportable. 

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Anne Whitacre
Principal
Whitacre Ink
Seattle WA
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Thank you Anne, you are quite right. 

Many jurisdictions are trying to 'improve the built environment' by adopting third party standards for sustainable construction, of which LEED appears the most viable and effective. Through the regulatory process, jurisdictions can influence the enforcement of LEED, but I know of no effort by a jurisdiction to determine how LEED enforcement is controlled and particularly the transparency of the process.

In places where the AHJ has not mandated LEED, clients may either require a LEED Certificate or (because of the substantial documentation cost) merely require designing to the LEED criteria without the documentation. 

Other forces are at work to provide jurisdictions more discretion related to the why, what, and how of regulating the creation of 'sustainable' environments.  Specifically, the International Codes Council has developed a draft of a new Code called the International Green Construction Code (IgCC) which is in its second round of review. This is a very comprehensive, technical, and complex code which transcends many agencies within jurisdictions, e.g., Zoning and Land Use.

Jurisdictions may adopt any or all of this Code.  Its enforcement would most likely fall to the Building Official. Because of the complexity of this Code, the AHJ may require supplemental professional assistance or require the CLient engage a third party to Certify compliance.

Because the IgCC may become mandatory and even supplant LEED and any other 'sustainable building' criteria, it is important that all Architects critique the draft of the IgCC before it is released and adopted around the country.  Note: USGBC, ASHRAE, ASTM International, the AIA, and other organizations have participated in creating the IgCC.

The provisions of the IgCC go far beyond LEED and will have a greater effect on the the appearance and construction of every component and system in our new buildings. The ICC regards LEED at voluntary and 'state-of-the-art,' while the IgCC is a 'minimum standard.'

Draft IgCC info:
http://www.iccsafe.org/cs/IGCC/Pages/default.aspx

Brief description of the IgCC:
http://www.iccsafe.org/cs/IGCC/Documents/Media/IGCC_Flyer.pdf

Also, like it or not, continuing education related to the IgCC will be much more demanding than any other CEU requirement to date.


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G. Drake Jacobs AIA

Melrose MA
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Anne and G. Drake,

Again, I beg to differ - LEED IS voluntary.  It is so insofar as an institution, such as a town or a public system, choose to set LEED as a standard - or not.  The decision to use LEED as a referenced standard takes a great deal of time and requires the input of multiple stakeholders.  At the state level in MA for example it took at least 5 - 8 years of background work before our governor signed an executive order for LEED + PLUS certification requirements of buildings over 20,000 sf built by state agencies.  I know, because I participated in a phase of the process.

And the substantial public input and concensus building that is part of an institution's decision to apply a standard is supported by an equally extensive process on the part of the USGBC to develop and maintain its rating systems.  This work has intentionally resulted in agencies that are now implementing some of the standards piloted in LEED to advocate for how those reference standards can be applied and refined in the IgCC, so that they can become a minimum standard of practice rather than a volunary one.  LEED is a testing ground, and can be risky, but it also provides a way to distinguish owners and building design and construction professionals as leaders in sustainable building science and design.

And to specifically respond to your concern about transparency:  if an onwner is asked to justify their expenditure of public funds through an information request, then they should be able to comply by forwarding documentation on the construction of a building project and how it qualified for LEED certification.  Building owners have copies of project contract documents and LEED documentation that they can choose to make public or not.  An owner could also give GBCI permission to comply with record requests specific to their building.  But as many private owners and architects know, there is a distinct line between public disclosure and sharing copyrighted information. 

USGBC and GBCI are non-profit organizations and are funded through the work they do to support sustainable design and construction.  As a member I have access to their process and can participate directly in quality control and review.  The AIA and other building and construction agencies have been part of this process from the beginning; many of the AIA COTE members were participants in the early years of the LEED rating system and continue to be influential partners.  The AIA and USGBC recently signed a memorandum of understanding.  So my recommendation is for members of this forum who are concerned about how LEED will impact their practice to get involved, participate, learn and critique, so that we can all improve our practice.

Sincerely, 
Ludmilla
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Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham AIA
Senior Facilites Planner
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Facilities & Campus Planning
Amherst MA
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