[Greenbuilding] Henry Gifford sues USGBC

Michael O'Brien obrien at hevanet.com
Mon Oct 18 15:34:33 CDT 2010


Hi, Reuben--

Henry has indeed been calling the bluff. Two years ago he found a significant error in the New Buildings Institute's analysis of LEED building energy performance, and reported it. Once the study was correcte,d the initial report that LEED buildings saved energy compared to conventional ones had to be revised to "some do, some don't, and for most, we don't know".

I heard him speak at the ACI conference, where he described his clients' buildings and how he ensures that they really perform, in comparison to LEED buildings which might or might not. A few participants defended LEED by saying it had raised the level of environmental awareness so he shouldn't be so critical. 

I believe Henry's criticism is at least partly responsible for USGBC updating the LEED energy standards to require checking performance. 

I wish him well with the lawsuit--he must be frustrated by what he sees as greenwashing.

Best,

Mike O'Brien


On Oct 18, 2010, at 12:43 PM, Reuben Deumling wrote:

> No one's mentioned this here yet. 
> Seems pretty interesting. 
> I've long wondered when someone is going to call Energy Efficiency's bluff and ask to be shown the emperor's clothes. 
> 
> The text of lawsuit:
> http://www.aiacc.org/site/docs/lawsuit.pdf
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