If the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is troubled by recent survey results indicating that support for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building certification program could be eroding, the nonprofit group isn't showing it.
The recently released Fourth Annual Green Building Survey, conducted by Los Angeles-based Allen Matkins and cosponsored by Constructive Technologies Group and Green Building Insider, asked more than 1,600 design and construction professionals, "Is it worth the time and effort to obtain official LEED certification?" About 62 percent of respondents answered "Yes," a drop of roughly four percentage points for this answer from the previous year and a reduction of about 16 percentage points from 2007's result (GBI, March 15, 2010, "Support for LEED Slips Despite Green Construction's Popularity: Fourth Annual Green Building Survey"). In the most recent survey, 92.7 percent of respondents indicated that it is worth the time and effort to build green, LEED-certified or not.
USGBC spokesperson Ashley Katz told GBI she is unsure how the survey's reported decline in support for official LEED certification can be explained. She quickly noted, though, that the organization's LEED certification program continues to prosper.
Katz pointed out that about half of all projects certified during LEED's first 10 years of existence were certified during 2009, rising from a total of 2,238 LEED certified projects at the end of 2008 to 4,327 projects by the end of last year (GBI, Jan. 7, 2010, "Number of LEED Certifications Skyrockets"). As for 2010, Katz reported that the Green Building Certification Institute, the organization that administers project certification, has awarded more than 50 new certifications each week and is certifying more than one million square feet each day.
Are Other Certification Organizations Stealing USGBC's Thunder?
There is ample evidence that the LEED certification program is continuing to grow, but are other organizations catching up in the U.S. green building certification marketplace?
Allen Matkins believes that the influence of several alternative certification programs could help explain the survey respondents' dwindling support for official LEED certification.
The firm pointed out that while LEED Silver certification is required for all California state building projects, Calgreen I and II certifications will be used under the state's Green Building Standards Code (GBI, Jan. 21, 2010, "California Adopts Statewide Green Building Standards Code"). Also, while LEED Silver certification is required for all new U.S. General Services Administration building projects, High Performance Building Standards rather than LEED are required under President Obama's sweeping federal green Executive Order 13154.
Furthermore, Allen Matkins pointed out that the Green Point Rating program for Build It Green, the Green Globes environmental assessment and rating system, and other certification processes are gaining in popularity.
Earlier this month, Build It Green Executive Director Catherine Merschel reported that approximately 70 local jurisdictions throughout California now refer to the GreenPoint Rated residential label in their regional green building programs.
Build It Green Communications Manager David Myers believes that about 50 more jurisdictions could refer to GreenPoint Rated within a year. The organization is looking to expand beyond California and already has entered the market in Nevada, he told GBI, noting that he does not see his organization as direct competition to USGBC, in part because many buildings have received both the GreenPoint and LEED labels. Build It Green has yet to make long-term projections for GreenPoint penetration.
In addition, the Green Building Initiative (GBInit) earlier this year announced the 100th building in the U.S. that has been certified through Green Globes.
There was about a 100 percent increase in U.S. certifications through GBInit in 2009 from the previous year's level, Mark Rossolo, the organization's vice president of operations, told GBI. "And we're continuing to improve. We're seeing more usage now than we ever have."
GBInit has not made specific projections for future growth, but Rossolo did reveal that the organization expects to remain "on the same growth scale" that it has been experiencing. "Whereas 2009 saw about a 100 percent increase, we're fully expecting [that although 2010 may not reach] that level, [we will] see a very significant increase not only in the number of certified green buildings but [also in] the number of people" using the tool that GBInit offers to help them make buildings greener without necessarily attaining certification.
Experts Don't See the Sky Falling on LEED
Other experts in the building certification community believe that the survey findings are not a sign of impending doom for LEED.
"I am not surprised that the survey respondents indicated a continued strong support for green and a slight decline in support for LEED certification, and I agree that there are many contributing factors, but none of which would jeopardize LEED's status as the foremost rating system at any point in the near future," Melinda Tomaino, director of green construction for the Associated General Contractors of America, told GBI.
"During the last decade, LEED was synonymous with green buildings, and thousands of volunteers at the national and grass-roots level and even within the federal government were invested in LEED's success, whether ideologically or financially. LEED initially brought into its fold many local programs and supporters, and now the success of LEED has brought green buildings into the mainstream. With that came an explosion of interest and involvement from innumerable companies, organizations, and individuals who are invested in green, and whereas they may be LEED-friendly, they're not necessarily invested in LEED's success.
"Now we are seeing new green building rating systems and guidelines for homes and commercial buildings, programs that focus on high-performing buildings and others that focus on the life-cycle assessment of buildings, hundreds of product labeling programs, standards that introduce green building attributes into code language, lean construction and using [building information modeling] to achieve green goals, and green specifications. USGBC has had a hand in furthering many of those initiatives. The interest in green also has expanded to roadways and bridges, landscaping, and urban planning. Green is at an interesting point in its development, where it is at the same time increasing and growing and also the status quo for many companies that have for years accepted it as a routine factor of business."
Alan Scott, a principal with Green Building Services Inc., which aims to help its clients integrate sustainable practices into their businesses and elsewhere, said he tends to disagree with Allen Matkins' conclusions about why there is a reported drop in support for LEED certification.
"The California Green Code and the Obama Administration's executive order are still new enough that I don't believe the majority of players in the building industry have even registered the change," Scott said. "I was just teaching a workshop in California, the participants came for LEED, and the subject of the new code never came up. Other certifications may be gaining popularity in narrow sectors of the building industry, but I can say anecdotally that amongst the developers, institutions, builders, and [architecture and engineering] firms I have had contact with who take green building seriously, LEED is the only rating system that they recognize. I have seen no increase in inquiries regarding other rating systems during the past three years.
"In my opinion, the economic slowdown, the symptoms of LEED's rapid growth (delayed certification reviews, etc.), and confusion over the transition to LEED 2009 may be the primary factors that have dampened enthusiasm for certification. I have also heard many stories of less-than-positive experiences with LEED certification, resulting primarily from inexperienced project teams, resulting in a reluctance to try it again."
