“. . . that in this economy, firms can’t afford not to pursue some sort of third-party certification, ” or,

“There is real value to third-party certification because it verifies you have done what you set out to do,” or,

“For your commercial property to be competitive, it has to be LEED certified. “There are huge increases in occupancy related to LEED.”

“Green buildings” and LEED certification are part of the hype that those profiting from both keep announcing to the world that they can’t do without it. Formerly 72% and now 62% supporting LEED certification is a significant drop.

Rather than analyze the drop – it might well be only the economy – the purveyors of green keep their rose colored glasses on and follow the yellow brick road they built.

These purveyors constantly say, without evidence, that the cost of LEED certification is zilch or minimal. But then they qualify: “But the cost of certification will always vary because of building types, jurisdictional requirements and workers’ experience levels.”

But the LEED certification fees could be reduced, e.g., “a firm could perform its own energy commissioning if it had qualified personnel.” And the cost of this would be less than the original fees?

Maybe the 10% drop is because construction professionals are thinking more critically.

Next, this measure isn’t just about pollution, its about market transformation, about getting us out of our cars, creating new cultural norms for mobility. Also, the health benefits for riders are incredible.

Not all investments make sense from the narrow standpoint of an individual project. The aggregate, however, can create a new world worth living in.

Some ideas make so much sense they deserve great credit even if they cost peanuts.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by SpenserVillwock: LEED certification takes hit – Daily Journal of Commerce …