Beyond LEED: Buildings That Give Back

A handful of thinkers and architects are pushing past LEED requirements to design buildings that generate more energy than they use.

1 minute read

August 25, 2008, 5:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


"(E)ven buildings that are LEED Platinum-the highest rating in the system-can use 80 to 100 kilowatts of energy per square meter, and some say the bar is set far too low. "LEED Gold is kind of a C right now," says James Brew, principal architect with Rocky Mountain Institute's (RMI) Built Environment Team. "Maybe LEED Platinum is a B or an A-minus."

What would an A-plus look like? RMI's team-a group of Boulder, Colorado–based architects, analysts, and consultants that function as a green think tank-spend their days reimagining structures as what they call "high-performance buildings" that actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions, rather than just stabilizing them. They call the initiative "Cooling the Warming." Under their tutelage, buildings will become giant air or water filters in which people happen to live or work. Extra energy will be produced through concepts like RMI's Next-Generation Utility-smart meters and programmable controls allowing homeowners to automate their own home energy use-or the Smart Garage, where electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (another of RMI's favorite research topics) can tap in to the power grid, either for charging batteries or supplying energy to the grid if they've saved more than they need."

Friday, August 22, 2008 in PLENTY

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

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

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Interior of Place Versailles mall in Montreal, Canada.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units

Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

May 22, 2025 - CBC

Flat modern glass office tower with "County of Santa Clara" sign.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing

The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

May 23 - San Francisco Chronicle

Aerial view of dense urban center with lines indicating smart city concept.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant

A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

May 23 - Governing

Pale yellow Sears kit house with red tile roof in Sylva, North Carolina.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing

Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.

May 23 - The Daily Yonder