Improving Green Building: Comparing LEED Certification to the FDA and Its Private, Third Party Ratings Approach

Abstract

Recognizing global warming and other environmental concerns as potentially hazardous to life on earth, many environmentalists have targeted the building industry as a specific area with enormous room for improvement in sustainability. This effort has led to the development of new, green building practices in the building industry in the United States. The green building movement has been met with such positive feedback that it has essentially become the standard in the building industry today. The building industry is one of the most significant and lucrative businesses in the world, and any substantial changes to the system have vast business implications. While the green building movement has certainly had many positive impacts on the environment, the swift enactment of measures to incorporate green building practices-largely based on private, third-party organizations-has received significant criticism. Many critics have expressed dissatisfaction with the government's reliance on these third-party organizations in legislative actions. Specifically, critics argue that the third-party organizations are unconstitutional because they are not valid government authorities and lack meaningful government review. Additionally, the potential conflicts of interest that arise in the current process have led to increased skepticism surrounding the green building movement as a whole.

Keywords: global warming, building industry, environment, FDA, sustainability

JEL Classification: environmental law, business,