Brendan Jones of Greensaw Design and Build recently penned a response to this New York Times op-ed on the limitations of LEED certification. As usual, Jones makes a convincing case for reused and reclaimed materials:
As it stands now, LEED awards one point – as much as you would get for screwing in a bike rack in front of the building – for using an existing structure. This boggles the mind. I could build a zero energy thermodynamically perfect house, and I’d still be in the red when it came to expenditure of fossil fuels because of the energy it took to create this structure in the first place.
For some insight into Greensaw’s amazing work, check out this feature from March’s Grid.