The need to slash emissions from buildings is increasingly urgent, and critics say LEED won't get us there.

Green building is a $1 trillion global industry, and in it, LEED is king. Many states link tax incentives to achieving LEED certification, and new federal buildings are now required to attain the Gold standard. In 2017, Washington, D.C. became the world's first LEED Platinum city.
But as LEED and its administrator, the U.S. Green Building Council, have grown, so has criticism of the program. Its impacts are said to be exaggerated, with calculations based on ideal design impacts rather than real-life operations. Even one of LEED's creators, Bob Berkebile, calls the certification "a failure."
In CityLab, Brian Barth looks into the shortcomings of the LEED empire, weighing the merits of the more common critiques and charting attempts to dethrone the far-reaching program (the Living Building Challenge, for example.) Ultimately, though, we may not yet have the tool that can spur the decarbonization of the world's building stock—one that has both the high standards to achieve a truly sustainable footprint, and the mass appeal to penetrate the global building industry.
FULL STORY: Is LEED Tough Enough for the Climate-Change Era?

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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