Over the past decade, sustainable design has been transformed from a fringe movement to big business. However, given the sheer scale of the environmental damage caused by the built environment, it’s clear that far more must be done. To prevent future catastrophes, the industry must both scale up its green initiatives and increase their effectiveness.
On the quantity front, the entity most responsible for the explosion of green building is LEED. Developed in 2000 by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), the voluntary project rating system has won over the industry by providing both a convenient set of guidelines for sustainable practices and a clear marketing incentive for designers and firms to go green (or at least appear to).
When it comes to moving forward on the quality side, however, the picture is a bit fuzzier. No one organization seems to clearly lead the way in promoting innovation as clearly as the USGBC does in popularization. But although there have been many rumblings about organizations striving to outdo LEED in terms of rigor, given the tremendous name recognition and market penetration of the program, LEED seems better positioned to move the industry forward than other actors.
