More Than 1,200 Businesses and Organizations Commend GSA for Using LEED to Support Innovation and Save Taxpayer Dollars
Washington, DC – July 26, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — More than 1,200 leading businesses and organizations representing a wide array of industries across all 50 states today sent a letter asking the General Services Administration (GSA) to continue to use the LEED green building rating system to advance innovation in construction and save taxpayer dollars.
The signatories commended GSA for its leadership in improving the energy and environmental performance of federal buildings, citing the recently released sustainability and energy “scorecard” from the White House’s budget office. That study showed that federal government investments in energy efficiency over the last four years are expected to save as much as $18 billion in lifecycle energy costs.
“Our nation’s top private-sector leaders agree: The LEED high-performance building rating system saves businesses money and helps deliver higher profits through reduced operating costs. The same is true for LEED federal facilities, which are saving American taxpayers millions of dollars a year,” said Roger Platt, Senior Vice President of Global Policy and Law, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
Signatories of the letter are architects, engineers, builders, contractors, designers, planners and product manufacturers. These include Skanska, Tishman Speyer, and Kohler Co., in addition to other high-profile business leaders. They lauded GSA’s decision to mirror the private sector in the use of LEED certification to reduce operating costs, save money and eliminate waste. They also agreed that deviating from LEED would add cost to projects. The executives urged GSA to continue to use the LEED building rating system and to focus on the “usability, market acceptance and effectiveness of rating tools rather than distractions focused on a single issue.”
“Support for the continued use of LEED by GSA is both broad and deep. Our more than 13,000 member companies are fully engaged in the development and use of LEED. Businesses and organizations are certifying 2 million square feet of real estate to LEED each day. Clearly there is incredible agreement on the value of LEED and green building in general,” Platt said.
For a full list of signatories, or to view the letter, visit bit.ly/GSAletter.
About USGBC and LEED:
The U.S. Green Building Council is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the creation of healthy, efficient green buildings. USGBC is predominantly known for the publication of the LEED Green Building Rating System. Private sector leaders established LEED in 2000 and it has quickly become the most widely used, voluntary, market-driven building rating program in the country. LEED is largely responsible for the explosive growth of energy-efficient, high-performance construction, which supports or creates nearly eight million jobs across all 50 states and contributes $554 billion to the U.S. economy annually. 48 companies in the Fortune 100 use LEED certification to reduce operating and energy costs and to increase their bottom lines. LEED-certified buildings are also saving U.S. taxpayers tens millions of dollars every day through these same efficiencies.
USGBC is working with all stakeholders, including companies across all sectors of the building industry, to ensure that LEED remains the most widely used and accepted high performance building rating system in the country. Nearly 1,300 product manufacturers are members of the U.S. Green Building Council, which oversees LEED. Manufacturers are the third largest segment of USGBC membership, behind architects and engineering firms, and builders and contractors.
Contact:
Ashley Katz
Media Manager, USGBC
202.742.3738
