Green-building certification system confronts growing pains and critics

Is LEED broken? The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program is rapidly becoming the dominant system for certifying buildings as eco-friendly. But green-building practitioners Auden Schendler and Randy Udall fear the program is seriously flawed. In a provocative essay that’s been stirring up debate in the green-building world, they highlight many of the program’s shortcomings. Reporter Ted Smalley Bowen checks in with LEED’s leaders and other interested folks to find out how they’re responding to the hubbub and what’s next for the world’s fastest-growing green-building scheme.