"I didn't like the 'LEED is broken' part, but I did like the 'Let's fix it' part," said U.S. Green Building Council President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi, referring to a critique of his organization's building-certification program that has been much discussed in green-building circles. Green building is growing up. Published this spring by somewhat sympathetic sustainable-business advocates Auden Schendler of the Aspen Skiing Company and Randy Udall of the Community Office for Resource Efficiency in Aspen, Colo., the not-quite-broadside comes as the five-year-old LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program is becoming the default green-building standard in the U.S. …

Is it better to compost elephant dung or tap its energy with a methane generator? Will a ring-tailed lemur feel at home under energy-efficient lights? Sustainability at zoos is a tall order. The Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs New York City's zoos and aquarium, is increasingly turning its attention to these and other environmental quandaries. In addition to managing what it describes as the largest urban wildlife park system in the world, the Bronx Zoo-based WCS, formerly the New York Zoological Society, is a major international conservation group with extensive research and education programs. Having recently dodged a budgetary bullet …