Letter to the Editor: Council should carefully take lead

My vote to this week’s poll question was “yes” – but a qualified “yes.” As a member of the Association of Energy Engineers, I absolutely support Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certification for new construction. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

The key word here is “leadership.” As a nation, we are steadily embracing the concepts of sustainability and resource conservation. One way Springfield can contribute is for our city council to require that all new city construction achieve LEED certification. If we are to encourage the private sector to do the same, we must lead by example.

There are three levels of certification to be achieved: Silver, Gold and Platinum. Projects begin with a simple registration process and earn “green” credits toward certification in each of several key areas. There is a perception by some building owners and project developers that LEED certification will add significant costs to projects. Sometimes this is true; LEED certification costs a bit more on the front end. But a building life-cycle analysis of the return on this initial investment reflects a big payoff.

Achieving certification for certification’s sake, however, doesn’t make much sense. … If we seek labels without a fundamental understanding for and commitment to the reasons why we do these things, I think some valuable lessons are lost.

When these investments in sustainability and resource conservation are made, there is accountability for decisions. Simple payback analysis is one thing. Real-time measurements over the life of the project, however, are more important. Also, regular reporting to Springfield citizens, whose tax dollars fund these investments, is paramount. So what are we waiting for? I urge City Council to take the lead.

—Scott Pogue, Agrisa LLC