Tag Archives: USGBC

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The LEED Rating System is Defining Excellence by Defying Obsolete Perceptions

The way to really jump-start the green movement is to convince private enterprises that alternative energy and responsible practices can also help their bottom line.

Money is powerful and in politics ever-present, as long as leaders of industry believe old practices are better for their profit margins, it will be difficult to make strong headway on tightening regulations. However, though legal regulations may move slowly, money talks and the push by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system has been the impetus for change, raising the standards above legal minimums and in the process birthing evidence that sustainable practices can provide better values than obsolete methods ever did.

The LEED rating system was developed to “evaluate a building’s resource efficiency and environmental impacts.” Under President Clinton the U.S. Green Building Council, between 1993 and 1998, developed what is now the world standard for sustainable building projects. Since 1998 there has been an exponential shift, away from established norms, towards sustainable building delivery systems.

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The Triple Bottom Line, The Heart of Green Building: Sustainability is Good for Business

The triple bottom line is all about the benefits: people, planet profit. The question that the triple bottom line concept demands be asked is, “how can an enterprise balance what is best for their wallets with what is best for everyone else?” It’s surprising how often multiple concerns align.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has long been a big topic in the PR world, but it was seen as a way of building goodwill with the public in the hopes that, in the long term, that goodwill would serve as a kind of advertising, keeping the company’s name in the publics’ minds and keeping that name clean with positive associations. CSR includes community outreach, civic mindedness, charity and environmental responsibility, but, until fairly recently it was not viewed as a sound method of conducting everyday business in terms of profits.

The concept of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) was conceived by John Elkington, the founder of British Consultancy, SustainAbility, in 1994. It’s an accounting philosophy that takes into account the benefits and costs for that business and their community, including employees, clients and the public, as well as the Earth itself. That’s the tagline, “People, Planet Profit: The Triple Bottom Line.”

The TBL is about the relationship that the project will have with its tenants, and clients, over its lifespan.

Regardless of the purpose of the building, the TBL considerations begin in the planning process. It entails choosing a location that is the least destructive to the ecosystem.

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