What is LEED
Sustainability has become a buzzword we can’t seem to get away from these days. And in the architecture community, that usually equates to whether a building is LEED-certified.
But what exactly does a LEED-certified building entail? LEED ((Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the world’s most widely used green building rating system. (Anon., 2024) Its certification is supposed to provide a framework for healthy, highly effective, and economical green buildings, which offer environmental, social and governance benefits. The reality of these certified buildings however is a bit different.
Greenwashing
Although the concept of this certification is noble the follow-through has become a bit problematic. Many of these accreditations simply don’t reflect the entire picture of a building’s impact or usually fail to reflect what truly makes a building sustainable.
These certifications work on a point-based system. These points lead to several types of certifications –
This point system works on the philosophy of creating benchmarks rather than standards. This is done by creating a laundry list of green strategies to reach a green building design. This leads to many loopholes. By multiplying a few smaller strategies, LEED certification can be achieved even without important energy efficiencies. For example, minor elements like installing a bike rack get you a point, while adding a minimum number of parking spaces scores you too. When these smaller elements are added up it leads to higher points and a certification without any actual energy efficiency in the design. This enables Building Green for Certification Alone to achieve green glory in the simplest and least expensive way possible without contributing significantly to the environment.
Not only that but also the stage of acquiring these certifications is inefficient and unstable. Applicants need to acquire LEED status by presenting computer models that project the building will meet a certain threshold. They can also accomplish this before the structure is occupied. Buildings don’t need to demonstrate continued effectiveness. This leads to the entire system being easily fooled and leading to no real value.
Predictably, studies reveal that buildings with LEED certification typically have lower energy efficiency than those without certification. According to one study, several of the LEED-certified buildings were the least energy-efficient of all comparable buildings, including in Washington, D.C., home of the U.S. Green Building Council. (Roy, 2014)
LEED in India
An obvious example of the failure of LEED buildings can be found in the simple fact that India retained its third spot on the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) annual list of Top 10 Countries and Regions for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) in 2023. 248 projects, across both buildings and spaces, were certified for LEED in the country covering 7.2 million gross square metres (GSM) (Anon., 2024)
Anyone who has worked in the field in India can attest to how energy efficiency is very low in the list of priorities given in our building designs being executed. Our country’s climatic condition is a clear indication of the same.
Greenpower an initiative
There is a new initiative with an extra tariff for consumers where customers can opt for the Adani Electricity Green Tariff Initiative The switch can be done with an immediate billing cycle and customers will receive a green power certificate monthly with a separate green colour bill indicating a separate line item – Green Power Tariff. (Anon., 2021).
Consumers in urban areas pay a green tariff, which is used to generate renewable energy in non-urban areas and power households and commercial enterprises in those areas. In return, urban consumers get a certification of lower energy consumption on paper, without actually investing in energy-efficient designs.
Rise in Green Commerce
At the end of the day the 21st century industries’ goals are all market-driven. A vast ecosystem of green commerce has grown in tandem with LEED, spurring sales in products ranging from solar panels to low-VOC paints and low-flow toilets. “Green building is now a $1 trillion global industry,” Mahesh Ramanujam, the USGBC’s ex-CEO (Barth, 2018).
While the idea behind green buildings is noble and necessary, especially in today’s climatic conditions, this use of certifications has led to it being a much more paper-driven campaign to use the ideas encouraged by green building certifications as nothing more than a marketing tactic, without investing in all it encompasses.
A large part of their issue is that a well-designed building is often not translated to its construction and operation. The need of the hour is to look at building designs holistically. Green certification industries such as LEED need to focus on all parts – concept, execution and maintenance. Operations and maintenance play a large role in the efficiency of a given building. Even small tweaks to the HVAC or lighting can make as much difference as a more expensive physical upgrade.
References:
Anon., 2021. Adani Electricity launches Green Tariff Initiative to switch to renewable energy. [Online]
Available at: https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/adani-electricity-launches-green-tariff-initiative-to-switch-to-renewable-energy-11622825876298.html
[Accessed May 2024].
Anon., 2024. India ranks third globally LEED green building certification 2023. [Online]
Available at: https://www.gbci.org/india-ranks-third-globally-leed-green-building-certification-2023
[Accessed Monday May 2024].
Barth, B., 2018. Is LEED Tough Enough for the Climate-Change Era?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-05/reconsidering-leed-buildings-in-the-era-of-climate-change
[Accessed May 2024].
Roy, A., 2014. Forbes. [Online]
Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/04/30/leed-certified-buildings-are-often-less-energy-efficient-than-uncertified-ones/?sh=31861df42554
[Accessed May 2024].
