Although LEED has advanced sustainability in the built environment, it hasn’t kept up with the accelerating urgency of climate change or the availability of low and no-cost ways to deeply cut carbon, says Greg Kats, president of Capital E.
Kats is a clean energy investor and was the first recipient of the U.S. Green Building Council Lifetime Achievement Award. He cites a 60% cost reduction of residential solar since 2010 that “make these now the cheapest electricity source in most states.”
Also, rapid growth in the ability to buy onsite and offsite solar and wind under power purchase agreements (PPAs) allows building owners to buy carbon-free power at a fixed price at or below conventional utility rates, Kats says. “Many buildings receiving LEED Silver, Gold, and even Platinum ratings deliver an anemic 15% or 20% lower energy use and CO2 reduction,” he says.
Kats and other environmental leaders have submitted a proposal to USGBC in support of minimum levels of carbon reduction by level of LEED certification. “LEED immediately should be revised to require substantial minimum carbon reductions for each level of LEED certification, both for new LEED buildings and for LEED rating renewals,” Kats says.
Related Stories
| Aug 2, 2013
Design of world’s tallest wood skyscraper would be more sustainable than steel alternative
Architecture firm C. F. Møller has proposed building the tallest wooden building in the world in Stockholm, Sweden.
| Aug 2, 2013
Texas law expected to help reduce construction payroll fraud
Texas lawmakers want to get tough on construction companies that commit a certain form of payroll fraud, passing a new law recently signed by Gov. Rick Perry.
| Aug 2, 2013
Surveys show parking space requirements far in excess of what is necessary
Officials in the Northwest’s large metropolitan areas have sent survey takers out at night through apartment and condominium lots and garages, recording empty and full spaces, and comparing their tallies with the number of apartments.
| Aug 2, 2013
Netherlands Institute of Ecology built to zero waste principles
The Netherlands Institute of Ecology was designed and built to be the most sustainable building in Holland and incorporate the zero waste principles of Cradle-to-Cradle design.
| Aug 2, 2013
Threat of more powerful coastal storms could curtail development
Led by Stanford University’s Natural Capital Project, researchers mapped the intensity of hazards posed to communities living along America’s coastlines from rising seas and ferocious storms now and in the decades to come.
| Jul 26, 2013
AGC launches new coalition to help bring tax relief to construction sector
Associated General Contractor of America (AGC) has launched the Coalition for Fair Effective Tax Rates to bring tax relief to the construction sector.
| Jul 26, 2013
Legislation would revamp federal contracting policy impacting small design and construction firms
Legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representative this month to ban reverse auctions when an agency determines small businesses are qualified to bid on the solicitation.
| Jul 26, 2013
Detroit’s problems may make blue infrastructure codes more likely
The City of Detroit’s financial problems may make it more likely to adopt blue infrastructure standards.
| Jul 26, 2013
Cities should reconsider rooming houses to build affordable housing stock, says expert
Building codes have effectively outlawed the bottom end of the private housing market, driving up rents on everything above it, argues the Sightline Institute's Alan Durning.
| Jul 17, 2013
WorldGBC, IFC pledge to rapidly scale up green construction in emerging markets
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) are collaborating to rapidly scale up the construction of green buildings in emerging markets.