The LEED certification process for buildings has long held a solid reputation for energy efficiency performance, but news that more than 800 LEED-certified buildings in the United States are at serious flooding risk has raised doubts about the rating system’s climate credentials.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has affixed its coveted point-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification to 830 new buildings in the past decade that have as much as a 50% chance of flooding every year, reports Politico, citing analysis by E&E News and New York-based non-profit First Street Foundation.
This revelation is bad news for climate resiliency in the U.S., where LEED certification is “a big deal,” subsidized or required by more than 350 local and state governments, plus the General Services Administration that manages the federal building stock, the news story states.
LEED-certified government buildings that have faced significant flood impacts include a library in Kentucky, the headquarters for Vermont’s Department of Public Safety, and the North Carolina History Center, which was inundated by Hurricane Florence’s 13.5-foot storm surge in 2017.
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