Almost Always Political
“…the tests behind a LEED certificate include parameters
like job creation, ethnic diversity, carbon footprint and use of renewable
energy sources – each of which is a politically loaded subject.” – Alejandro Zaera
Polo
I never thought about LEED as a political issue until my
dad was helping me study for my LEED Green Associate exam last year. He thought
many of the ideas of LEED were silly because they have been made political and
go against his political views. This made me wonder why “environmentally
friendly” alternatives are only for liberal tree huggers and why everyone can’t
participate in sustainability. If it helps better the planet or the community,
half of the population is sure to scoff at it and write it off.
Some of the LEED requirements are just a bandaid, some aren’t really helping the planet but do encourage a healthier lifestyle, and some should be implemented across the board. I do think we can work on more innovative ways of designing that instead of adding on a new technology to old methods of designing/construction, we change the way we design and build.
Not all tree hugger are liberal, but I do agree with the gimmicky side of LEED certification and it is now used just as a marketing tool and it seems like we are churning things out like that quite frequently(Green building, Living building...)
ReplyDeleteI think the answer is putting care into designing, building, preserving things. See a problem as a problem before making it a political view, see a person as a living being before regard them just as another political entity.
That is the end of my "sermon".
lydia,
ReplyDeleteLEED to me seems like a simple resume booster to me. The way the program and the certifications are set up for buildings make it easy for architects to just take some easy steps that dont actually help the overall sustainability aspect of the design but simply get them a rating that they claim can be used to call their building eco-friendly. In other words, LEED to me doesn't seem like the right way to solve designing for the environment but to simply pretend like we are.