Leed__Effective_or_Outdated_

LEED: Effective or Outdated' The Importance of sustainable buildings is vastly growing. Many organizations are being founded in order to motivate builders to construct sustainable buildings. The United States Green Building Council has created a certification system, known as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or ’LEED.’ This system evaluates certain sustainable buildings and rewards them for their energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. In Ajay Garde’s article, “Sustainable by Design'”, and in Alex Zimmerman and Charles J. Kibert’s article, ”Informing LEED’s next generation with The Natural Step, the LEED certification system is analyzed by different perspectives producing different opinions. In his article, Garde discusses the importance of building sustainable buildings and planning LEED certified neighborhood developments. The LEED certification system consists of certain criteria with certain amounts of receivable points which the building must possess in order to be certified. Currently, the government uses conventional regulations and building codes to ensure the minimum requirements of a building. This causes many builders to poorly construct a building with a low efficiency level. The LEED certification system goes beyond these requirements and inspires innovation for the maximum efficiency and safety of a building. The green building industry has seen a large increase with the introduction of the LEED certification system and many hope to see the system increase more competition among builders to produce sustainable buildings. However, The LEED system seems to attract the commercial construction industry more than the residential industry and neighborhood development groups. This is because the construction of sustainable buildings is far more costly than conventional construction. Many of the new technologies integrated in sustainable buildings are high in cost and many construction methods require more man hours than regular construction methods. However, these large commercial buildings will see a return on their investment fairly quickly due to the efficiency of the building. Where as a residential building will take much longer to return the investment. Garde explains how “Designers and planners are trying to promote sustainability in new development projects” in order to motivate neighborhood developers to build LEED certified sustainable homes (Garde 425). Garde also explains how the USGBC has made movements in the past to increase LEED neighborhood developments by inviting “LEED-ND pilot projects to register in early 2007” (Garde426). With a different view on LEED, Zimmerman and Kibert explain the importance of revising the LEED certification system to better fit the changing construction industry. With the early development of the LEED certification system, the construction of a sustainable building has followed the framework of the LEED system. However, Zimmerman and Kibert believe that there are far more innovations that can be made in order to create an even more sustainable building which the LEED system simply does not address. The industry of sustainable buildings is changing constantly and without changes to the sustainable requirements, the sustainable industry will not make progress. Zimmerman and Kibert explain how “constant improvement is required for any given system to remain relevant and effective” (Zimmerman 682). Zimmerman and Kibert believe that the requirements of LEED are now falling short of the thriving industry and need to be revised or rewritten. Garth, Zimmerman and Kibert all believe in the importance of sustainable buildings. Each article discusses the importance of energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. However, the articles share different views on the organizations and policies used to promote and produce sustainable buildings. Garde explains how he believes the LEED certification system would benefit neighborhood developments greatly. The importance of living sustainably is growing tremendously. Saving energy is important to many families in order to reduce energy costs and lessen the environmental footprint left from wasting energy. LEED neighborhood developments offer the opportunity of living in a healthy and safe environment which appeals to many families. However, Zimmerman and Kibert do not believe the LEED certification system is an appropriate system for guiding the construction of sustainable buildings. In comparison to Garde’s article, Zimmerman and Kibert would like to see a unique certification system which applies directly to neighborhood developments. They explain how LEED is “used to assess every type of building from fitness centres to hospitals, retail establishments, multi-family residential, and office buildings” (Zimmerman 682). This approach seems to fall short on the highest sustainable potential each type of building can reach. LEED has been successful thus far in promoting the construction of sustainable buildings. However with growing popularity of sustainability, systems need to conform to certain areas of the construction industry. Zimmerman and Kibert explain how “LEED has been criticized for its lack of scientific robustness, particularly its lack of credits dealing directly with practices that impact climate change and the failure to address persistent organic pollutants” (Zimmerman 683). The LEED certification system seems to be more of an idea rather than an actual scientific impact. However it has been recognized as the movement starter to sustainability. Garde believes that the LEED certification system addresses many key environmentally friendly aspects. Using fluorescent light bulbs significantly reduces the amount of carbon omissions released through lighting. Also, addressing the issue of walking by designing sustainable buildings with efficient walking patterns and reducing the amount of vehicle traffic and vehicle emissions is also a key issue in the LEED certification system. Garde describes how “Most of the criteria included in the green construction and technology category focus on construction technology and management techniques that cause the project to use energy and water more efficiently and reduce its carbon footprint” (Garde 430). Zimmerman and Kibert believe that the LEED certification system does not address environmental issues with enough emphasis. With the system being based on reward, the efficiency and the environmental friendliness is limited by the reward standards which LEED sets. They also believe that “LEED, as an environmental rating system, does not explicitly address economic or social issues” (Zimmerman 683). Social issues seem to play a significant role in the efficiency of a building. The way we use a building and the way we treat a building will result directly in the efficiency and environmental impact of the building. However, Garde explains how the LEED system does address certain social aspects of sustainability. LEED rewards points to buildings for the atmosphere within the spaces of the building and for the air cleanliness and health of the building. The atmosphere within a building directly affects the way we act, which in turn directly affects the way we use a building, which in turn directly affects the efficiency of a building. Therefore the LEED certification system does address certain social aspects of a building. Garde then explains how the LEED neighborhood development system will “revitalize existing urban areas, reduce land consumption, reduce automobile dependence, promote pedestrian activity, improve air quality, decrease polluted runoff , and build more livable, sustainable communities for people of all income levels”(Garde 425). This statement describes a large impact on the social environment of residents and the abilities of the LEED neighborhood development system. In each of the articles, The LEED certification system is analyzed and described based on the authors interpretation of the effectiveness of the system. Garde views the LEED certification system as a wonderful opportunity to develop sustainable neighborhoods for families and for the environment. However, Zimmerman and Kibert argue that the LEED certification system has fallen short of the potential efficiency of present sustainable buildings. They believe that certain areas of the construction industry should have unique systems developed specifically for the maximum efficiency of the building. However, each of these articles promotes the importance of the development of sustainable buildings for energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. Works Cited Balachandra, P., Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, and B. Sudhakara Reddy. "Commercialization of Sustainable Energy Technologies." EBSCO. 12 Nov. 2009. Web. Garde, Ajay. "Sustainable by Design'" Journal of the American Planning Assocation 75.No. 4 (2009): 424-40. EBSCO. Web. 28 Feb. 2010. Kumar, Shiv, and Arvind Tiwari. "Design, Fabrication and Performance of a Hybrid Photovoltaic/thermal." Energy Conversion & Management 51.6 (2009): 1219-229. EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr. 2010. Martinot, Eric. "RENEWABLE ENERGY GAINS MOMENTUM." Environment 48.6 (2006): 26-43. EBSCO. Web. Olufemi, Olusola. "Women and the Burden of Unsustainable Development: Practice." Development in Practice 14.3 (2004). EBSCO. Web. Retzlaff, Rebecca C. "Green BuildingAssessment Systems:A Framework and Comparison for Planners." Journal of the American Planning Association 74.4 (2008): 505-19. EBSCO. Web. Rohracher, Harold. "Managing the Technical Transition to Sustainable Construction of Buildngs: A Socio-Technical Perspctive." Technology Analysis and Strategic Management 13.1 (2001): 137-50. EBSCO. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. Zimmerman, Alex, and Charles J. Kibert. "Informing LEED's next Generation with The Natural Step." Building Resarch and Information (2007): 681-89. EBSCO. Web. 2 Mar. 2010.