A proposed amendment from Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) to the bipartisan Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, a bill proposed by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH), would prevent the use of the U.S. Green Buildings Council's (USGBC) LEED rating system on federal buildings.
The bill itself, which could reach the Senate floor before Congress' Memorial Day recess, provides financial incentives, technical assistance and new standards for energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings. It is being lauded as comprehensive and progressive, receiving support from both sides of the aisle. The proposed amendment, however, has tempers flaring. It would prevent the General Services Administration (GSA) from using green building systems not certified by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). LEED is not ANSI-certified, and could therefore not be used on the nearly 10,000 federal buildings managed by the GSA.
ANSI systems are consensus-based, which allows for more input and influence from the affected industries. LEED, on the other hand, requires a super-majority of 66 percent of its 13,000 members to create or change any standards. Many industries consider the system too strict, not giving them a strong enough voice.
The American High-Performance Buildings Coalition, representing the interests of petroleum and chemical companies, criticized the LEED rating system for lacking "openness, transparency or balance" and for excluding building product manufacturers from the USGBC steering committee. In response, USGBC criticized the chemical lobby for "quietly leveraging its multi-million-dollar operation that would ban the federal government from using the LEED green building rating system."
Florida, and Mississippi have also drafted bills to stop using LEED on state buildings, and Maine and Georgia passed executive orders along the same lines. At issue in many of those cases is the LEED requirement that all wood products be Forest Stewardship Council-certified. Because few forests in the U.S. are FSC-certified, builders cannot use local timber.
The GSA is conducting an ongoing review all third party certification systems and will be making a recommendation this summer to be considered by the Secretaries of Energy and Defense, along with multiple agencies that manage federal buildings. Following this review, a decision will be made for the entire federal government.
The amendment has yet to be introduced, and Landrieu's office did not release official word regarding whether the amendment would be introduced when the bill reaches the Senate floor.
