That Fancy Green – more than just a colour of underwear

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, indicates a property’s overall sustainability by awarding points for just about any sustainable feature imaginable, from bike racks and rainwater collection and reuse systems, to energy-efficient lighting and low-flow plumbing fixtures. It is comprised of specific programs tailored for new buildings, existing buildings and tenant build-outs, and awards different tiers of certification such as Silver, Gold or Platinum, the highest.

Over the past few years, LEED has emerged as the industry’s de facto sustainable property rating system and become nearly synonymous with the term ‘green building’.

As much as I respect bike racks and rainwater collection, don’t mind me as I call LEED on certification shenanigans (in the simplest of terms) in awarding ‘certification’ for Green Building with low ratings in perhaps some of the most important categories.

See Orchard Garden Hotel. 26/69 points, 37%. A pass?

Enegry and Atmosphere, 1/17. Yea, not important, “energy”.

Neither is water efficiency at 2/5.

I only just ran into their site while researching something else and wanted to take note. Things labelled ‘green’ should be planned from the ground up, not just labelled and certified later in their lifetime to increase investment and occupancy.

Is Green much more than a pansy-ass word? I thought greenwash would be towed away…not yet it won’t.