Developing Markets and LEED

Source: emagazine.com

India has become the first country outside of the US to meet the standards for platinum-certification as outlined by LEED. The article also discusses how China, in the midst of its economic boom, is also having a green revolution.

Last summer the Chinese Premier and Mayor of Shanghai unveiled plans for the
world’s first fully sustainable “eco-city” in Dongtan, strategically located at
the mouth of the Yangtze River next to Shanghai. The first phase of the massive
project will be completed in time for the 2010 Expo in Shanghai. By then, the
city plans to showcase innovative urban water harvesting and purification
systems, community waste recycling, waste-based biogas facilities and
co-generation power plants. When completed in 2040, the city will be
three-quarters of the size of Manhattan and almost entirely self-sufficient in
energy, water and food.

While I have been aware for sometime now that the Chinese government and Chinese entrepreneurs have been developing green solutions to energy use, they are going above and beyond my expectations. I did not believe that environmental sustainability would be a top priority for China this decade since they are still a developing country, regardless of the amount of economic growth that is taking place.

The article questions whether or not it will be enough to quell an energy crisis. It's a fair question, but to get the developing world on board with energy conservation is a huge step and something that, at this point, may become the model for the West in the coming years.

Green Building Revolution

An interesting article from the Kansas City infoZine news.

Today, five percent of new commercial construction meets standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program (LEED), a voluntary, consensus-based standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. Ten percent of new homes satisfy the federal government's Energy Star guidelines, meaning they're nearly one-third more energy-efficient than regulations require.

This article points to some positives and negatives from recent trends in the construction industry in the US. Although 5% of new constructions meet the requirements set out by LEED, which I find surprising, the author brought up a good point that to reduce American's portion of greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere, the "green revolution" is not going fast enough. The article is accurate in portraying buildings as the real "energy hogs" rather than the much maligned SUVs. Not that SUVs don't have anything to do with the problem. On the contrary, SUVs need to become more efficient. However, buildings are a larger culprit and are often not addressed by the media.

I have worked on a LEED building project quite recently and had the privilege to learn a lot more about it. It is not a perfect model for building standards. It tends not to account for "locked-in" factors that cannot be changed. For example, for buildings located on swamp land, there are automatic deductions on their points system. If you are trying to convince a building or land owner to get on board with LEED, not accounting for such locked in factors can be a disincentive. LEED should not become too diluted, but some flexibility in the program will most likely encourage more green buildings to emerge in the coming years.

However, the bottomline is that it's good to see 5% of all new constructions in the US following the strict guidelines.