But Is There Fire: If LEED Is A Fraud, Why Aren’t Developers Suing?

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Yesterday, I discussed the fact that Henry Gifford filed an Amended Complaint in his suit against the USGBC for fraudulently claiming that LEED buildings save energy. The post, as well as the Amended Complaint are available here. I also noted that Mr. Gifford and the other plaintiffs probably do not have standing to bring the suit because they were not harmed by the allegedly fraudulent advertising of the LEED system.

Yesterday, I discussed the fact that Henry Gifford filed an Amended Complaint in his suit against the USGBC for fraudulently claiming that LEED buildings save energy. The post, as well as the Amended Complaint are available here. I also noted that Mr. Gifford and the other plaintiffs probably do not have standing to bring the suit because they were not harmed by the allegedly fraudulent advertising of the LEED system.

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Mr. Gifford alleges that the people and entities that have been and will be harmed include:

USGBC's misrepresentations have and will continue to deceive consumers and voters, taxpayers, developers, municipalities, and legislators at the local, state and federal levels.

Amended Complaint at Paragraph 57.

This brings up critical questions about the legitimacy of Mr. Gifford's claims:

If developers were really experiencing energy performance vastly out of proportion to their expectations, wouldn’t there be suits by developers against their design professionals and/or the USGBC?

If the Federal government, with one of the largest portfolios of LEED buildings, were really disappointed by their performance, wouldn’t they stop using the system?

If design professionals were spending money to obtain worthless credentials, then wouldn't architects (whose profession is down something like 50%) be lining up to demand their money back?

If the problems that Gifford alleges are so fundamental, why is it that Henry Gifford and a few other plaintiffs who have rejected the LEED paradigm seem to be the only ones suing?

Article continues: http://blog.cleantechies.com/2011/02/09/leed-fraud-why-arent-developers-suing/