Amory Lovins on building efficiency summary

[ChrisPrelitz]

LEED is a measurement tool...not a design tool.

Design an energy efficient plan first..then see if you want to pay for a LEED plaque.

[PlanetThoughts]

As Amory briefly mentions, LEED does not imply energy efficiency, but for those who do care about that it provides a good foundation. LEED buildings on average are slightly LESS energy efficient than other buildings, although they have other benefits for environmental impact. The moral is, make sure your LEED building designers are getting ample LEED point credits from energy efficiency measures, and that a good builder/contractor is also consulted on energy-saving measures.