The Top 10 Least Popular Green Building Strategies in LEED

USA Today staff writers Christopher Schnaars and Thomas Frank released their list of top 10 least popular green building options. They created the list by analyzing over 7,100 LEED certification projects and finding which of the optional credits were least frequently achieved.

1. 10% of materials such as beams and doors are reused or salvaged
2. Reuse existing building elements
3. On-site renewable energy
4. Use rapidly renewable materials such as bamboo
5. 5% of materials such as beams and doors are reused or salvaged
6. Reuse 95% of a building exterior
7. Use on-site renewable energy
8. Boost energy performance 42%
9. Reduce use of potable water in wastewater
10. Reuse 75% of a building exterior

Some of the items on the list were similar or repeated, most likely because of the varying credits across the LEED rating systems. However, the list has some important takeaways.

First, on-site renewable energy is often avoided because, according to USA Today, "technologies to capture this energy aren't cheap". This, paired with only 9.9% of projects choosing to "boost energy performance 42%", shows that a building's energy sourcing and consumption is one of the most difficult and/or expensive strategies to achieve LEED certification.

This is concerning, because buildings make up 39% of the United States' energy use, and 79% of the nation's electricity consumption. Green buildings are meant to address this problem by improving reducing the need for grid-source electricity and fossil fuels through efficiency and renewable energy production. The fact that green building project teams avoid these tactics shows that LEED's rubric for "green building" may not adequately address this issue.

While LEED v4, the new version of LEED due out in 2013, will not adjust the on-site renewable energy credits very much, it will allocate more points to the energy efficiency category, making it a more desirable strategy for project teams. Hopefully, this will increase the number of project teams who achieve a 42% improvement in energy performance.

Another trend in USA Today's list was that reusing existing building elements was an unpopular strategy. Buildings account for 40% of raw materials use and 30% of waste output, so it is important that green building incorporates responsible material sourcing, recycling and disposal. However, the reason that many projects avoided these optional credits is because it "only works for the right kind of project", according to the article. If there is no existing building to reuse, then project teams cannot achieve these credits.

LEED v4's Materials and Resources credit category will change significantly, because it will include "Building Product Disclosure and Optimization" credits. These will encourage more responsible sourcing of building materials, and hopefully reduce raw material use.