LEED Certified status for buildings now can be revoked

In the new version of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) guidelines, a totally new concept has been incorporated: the threat of revoking a building's hard-earned LEED-certified status.

This can happen if an owner does not submit building energy performance data--and have that data comply with LEED minimum standards--to the USGBC for approval for five years after the building is certified. See Dani Grigg's article reprinted in Architectural Record.

LEED certification is an effective way of recognizing and rewarding high-performance building practices, which contribute in a big way to a cleaner environment, better awareness of the many opportunities for smarter design and better building energy performance, and less dependence on foreign oil. So far so great, in my view.

Now, a growing number of municipalities and government organizations are requiring LEED compliance for certain types of projects, especially government-funded projects. OK, I'll go along with that, with reservations. We have to have standards, and the government should lead (no pun intended) the way with its building projects and conserve our tax dollars during years of operating costs for the expected life of the building. I'm totally on board with this for government projects. For private projects, I'm more in favor of government incentives than requirements. Still, the overall aim is good.

This five-year threat of revoking a building's LEED certification based on energy performance data just seems too Big Brother-ish to me. The owner spent a lot of money to get that certification and met all of the requirements. There are too many factors beyond anyone's control in the building's future energy performance. This will discourage many people from jumping through the LEED hoops at all.