We have been challenged.
In recent months, USGBC and LEED have been the target of false and misleading claims from narrow interest groups seeking to undermine our credibility and acceptance in the market by criticizing the role we play in the federal government's success in green building. The General Services Administration (GSA), the landlord of federal properties, is currently reviewing its use of rating systems, and narrow interests are applying political pressure in an attempt to force the agency to stop using LEED entirely. We must go on record and dispel the misinformation. We create jobs, we do not harm them. We make buildings more efficient, not less. And we encourage innovation, we don't stifle it.
That is why I am asking you for help! Sign your chapter onto this letter and then get your chapter committees, personal networks, and companies you have a positive working relationship with to sign on. We need to recruit as many companies and gather as many signatures as possible.
If we all speak up, then narrow special interests will not drown out the entire green building industry.
There are two ways to sign on:
1) Please email Matt Pearce at mpearce@usgbc.org with the company name and staff contact wishing to sign. OR
This will be the clarifying note amid all the manufactured controversies surrounding LEED. This will be the statement of the depth and breadth of the green building industry and demonstrate our community's strength and commitment to LEED. Together, let's meet and surpass our goal.
If each of our chapters bring me 15 companies to sign on, we will easily eclipse our goal and make a bold statement.
We can do it,
KL
Kimberly Lewis
Senior Vice President, Community Advancement , Conference & Events
U.S. Green Building Council
2101 L Street NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20037
