For example, in LEED Version 2.2, the single point in credit SS 4.3 Alternative Transportation – Bicycle Storage and Changing rooms was potentially 1/26th, or 3.8 percent, of the total certification (26 being the minimum number of points for certification under LEED 2.2). In the current version, LEED 2009, the same credit is only potentially worth 1/40th, or 2.5 percent, of a total certification. USGBC is continually reweighing the credits that are considered easy to obtain or have lower environmental priorities as the thresholds for minimum LEED performance is being raised.
Attacks on USGBC are not uncommon. The organization has been defending itself almost since the inception of the program in 1998. Criticisms came from every direction including those who wanted the recognition and marketing power of a green-building certification but didn’t want to go through the effort or cost to pursue it (think: “built to LEED standards”) to competing certifying organizations that had their own agendas to push. One of the first major backlashes against the program was a widely circulated article titled “LEED is Broken—Let’s Fix It”. The article, which was published in 2005, got significant exposure by critics of LEED who condemned the program for being cost prohibitive or too difficult to achieve.
Ironically, many of the same criticisms of the LEED program from the USA Today article were raised in the “LEED is Broken” article. Most of these concerns stem from out of date misconceptions that even the most straightforward of credits is easy to implement or cheap to buy. In reality, every credit has implications in cost or architectural programming. Some are just more obvious than others.
Is the LEED program perfect? Far from it. As a practicing professional who has been involved with LEED for many years, I have my own criticisms, which mostly are logistical and not fundamental to the core concepts of the program. For example, reviews of LEED submissions are lengthy and, more often than not, inconsistent. It seems every submission these days is a learning curve and unknowns exist about what issues will be raised. These issues can be resolved with standardization and organization.
These days there seems to be a lot of negativity toward USGBC and the LEED program; one negative article seems to spawn another. However, there are those of us who still believe in the merits of the program and feel a building that carries a LEED certification means something compared to one that doesn’t. LEED is a tool that is in a constant state of change. Though not perfect, through the efforts of its members it can be shaped to be the tool we want it to be.