I once heard a developer joke that you could detonate a nuclear device in Portland and not harm a single talented architect, and this article unfortunately seems to indicate that not many smart ones would suffer either.

I am pretty far from a tree hugger myself. But anyone with half a brain can see that a system that awards more points to flooring system components that promptly self-destruct as soon as the tenants move in than to saving the structure that’s on your land in the first place is both imbecilic and philosophically bankrupt. Energy Star makes sense. If that’s too lightweight, there’s Passivhaus, which runs circles around LEED Platinum.

Yeah, LEED us with hand-cranked elevators.

Not all electric cars can use those plugs. A Prius cannot use it because it uses a 110v and is a slow charge of 7 hours.

Let’s ask the question how much does it cost the employer to recharge an employees electric car? At least $262 per year per employee which charges.

Most electric cars charges about 20% per hour. The total time to charge from empty to 100% is 5 1/2 to 7 hours. How much does it cost to charge? At the moment less than $1 to charge a plug-in hybrid; $2-4 for an all-electric car.

But, think about this, the government charging stations will then be receiving the funds for charging your car, not your local fueling station. So transfering the income from the gas stations to the government.

The EDrive plug-in Prius has a maximum all electric range of 50 to 60 miles. After that, or over 34 mph, the gasoline engine kicks in as in the conventional Prius.

And now consider the new road tax for owners of electric cars.

Sure put Tax Payers in electric cars that can’t exceed 55 MPH and give the govt. the gas driven cars which out pace the Tax Payers so they can give them a ticket easier. Oh wait, that would be handled by the cameras at intersections and the auto-mail system.

Can’t help but wonder about the agreements between car manufacturers, the govt. and LEED – are they really for the benefit of the Tax Payer?

Where’s our freedom going?

LEED Low VOC adhesives are substandard leaving behind squeakiy floors and detached materials after a shortened period of time.

LEED paints don’t have the same maintenance standards as the good quality paint. LEED wants flat paint that is watered down and marks up easily and is hard to clean.

Regional Materials Credits are hard to acquire especially now that they want the extraction site to be within 500 miles. Well, don’t let the paperwork fool you: Structural steel consists of expensive wide flange beams which are made in only 3 states in the USA. Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Nevada, Canada is not one of them. Ore extraction doesn’t happen every 500 miles and those steel plants use steel scrap from everywhere they can aquire it from.

Regional FSC Lumber what a sham. Following a stick of wood from the forest to the mill to the distributor(s) to the store, to the end user through Chain of Command documents? Give us a break. As long as the lumber bears a local forest stamp that should be good enough.

Believe me LEED has it’s eyes on a COC for steel too.

Let’s give full credit where credit is due. The intention of LEED is to use “Local” material, to increase the insulation on buildings to reduce the need for energy, to use furnishings that require less energy, and to get manufacturers to incorporate recycled products into their goods. That is good enough. Leave out the excessive political crap.

Here’s one flaw in the gray matter of industry know-it-alls. How can you as an architect dictate to the owner what he is going to do with his/her own building, for the next fifty years. There’s a good chance that the owner has to add 20 or 25 employees (in your perfectly designed building for 12) to make ends meet. How do you answer this? I’m all for efficiency but at what cost. Remember these are not doll houses, or doll buildings. Real people, real scenarios, real economies, and real money are at work here. It’s all nice to make it into the paper holding that brand new plaque but is it REALLY working.