While last week brought good news to energy efficiency
advocates with the reintroduction of the Energy Savings and
Industrial Competitiveness Act (otherwise known as Shaheen-Portman) in the U.S.
Senate, not-so-good news for LEED advocates came out of
Last Wednesday, the Ohio State Senate passed Ohio
Senate Concurrent Resolution 25 (SCR 25) which, as previously
reported, asserts that LEED v4 should no longer be used by Ohio state
agencies and government entities. It was introduced in the Ohio State House of
Representatives the next day.
Days before the vote, Tyler J. Steele, vice chairman of the
USGBC’s Central Ohio chapter wrote that “
leading association of sustainability-minded construction professionals
implores legislators to reject any resolution that could jeopardize our efforts
to continue transforming central
built environment to be more healthy, prosperous and sustainable.”
Treehugger’s Lloyd Alter has a passionate review of
the latest developments, charging that the legislation is the work of special
interests for the plastics and chemical companies, and that it is openly
biased toward the Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes rating system.
When I asked GBI president Jerry Yudelson about the
however, he said that the organization does not take positions on legislation.
“Our philosophy is that there should be choice in the marketplace,”
he said. “We think the consensus process we use has a lot of advantages in
that it gets everyone lined up and going in the same direction, but it’s not
about excluding one system or another. Let the marketplace choose.”
Having previously mobilized a grassroots campaign in Ohio in
response to SCR 25’s initial introduction, USGBC is now encouraging LEED
advocates in Ohio to contact their state Representative and tell them via
one-on-one meetings, written testimony, social media posts, phone calls, or
emails to vote no on any further progression.
