In my readings, course work & exams, I was struck by the extent to which trade organizations have gone to offer alternatives for certification. A notable one is the relatively new National Green Building Standard, The Whirlpool Corporation, in some continuing education course material, describes it as "the first ANSI (American National Standards Institute) consensus standard on sustainable Green Building for residential construction. A collaborative effort between the ICC (International Code Council) and NAHB (National Association of Home Builders), the Standard provides the ‘green’ practices that can be incorporated into new homes including multi-family buildings, home remodeling and additions, hotels and motels and the site upon which the green homes are located."
Why?
The NAHB has published a comparison of green home rating systems (http://www.nahbgreen.org/Content/pdf/GreenHomeRatingComparison.pdf). There's a very telling passage in the Executive Summary of that document. They state the cost for the first level of compliance in LEED-H (“Certified”) was calculated at roughly three times as much as the NAHB Model Green Building Guidelines or the National Green Building Standard equivalent levels (“Bronze”) overall for this sample chosen. Other comparisons were similar.
Even the Department of Defense is apparently reconsidering its commitment to LEED, according to a recent blog by The Builders Counsel (http://www.builderscounsel.com/2012/01/no-more-leed-gold-or-platinum-for-department-of-defense-maybe-not/).
Are we moving on?
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