For all those that have been waiting to see whether the LEED rating system would spark litigation, the wait is over.  On October 8, 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed against the USGBC and its founders.  The suit was filed by Henry Gifford and his company Gifford Fuel Saving, Inc. on behalf of “consumers, taxpayers, and building design and construction professionals.” 

Gifford has apparently been an outspoken opponent of the LEED rating system for a while, and in his lawsuit he alleges that the USGBC falsely claims that the LEED rating system creates energy savings when it does not and by doing so deceives building owners, designers, and other building professionals into believing that LEED buildings are more energy efficient than non-LEED buildings.  Of course, I’m paraphrasing the allegations—you can download the actual complaint here to read all of the claims.

Shari Shapiro has written a great commentary on www.greenbuildinglawblog.com about whether the designated categories of plaintiffs are similarly situated enough in order to survive the fairly rigorous legal standards for certifying a “class action.”  I agree with her assessment that the types of plaintiffs and the ways in which they have allegedly been damaged by the LEED rating system do vary widely.   For this reason, I believe the attorney for the plaintiffs has an uphill battle to fight on the class certification. 

But aside from the class action aspect of the lawsuit, Gifford’s main arguments are that the USGBC is perpetrating a huge fraud against the world by claiming that LEED certified buildings are energy efficient.  He claims that LEED does not require verification or actual energy use data to measure performance of energy savings strategies for which LEED points are awarded.  (Under the latest version of LEED—LEED 3.0—measurement and verification of energy performance is required following construction)   He also claims that the USGBC has manipulated data from a study performed by the New Buildings Institute (NBI) in March 2008 to falsely promote that LEED buildings are more energy efficient than non-LEED buildings.

Now, I obviously don’t know enough about the facts to make a judgment as to whether they are true.  But, I also feel like Gifford is not giving enough credit to his purported class of plaintiffs.  To believe Gifford’s allegations, you have to believe that sophisticated building owners and operators, as well as licensed design and construction professionals have all been misled by the USGBC to believe that LEED certification equals energy efficiency—end of story.  That ignores the fact that the LEED rating system has 5 other core areas of sustainable strategies that are part of the certification point system.  Energy efficiency is just one aspect of LEED, not the whole enchilada. 

 Is Gifford suggesting that building owners do not have any idea what they are bargaining for when they contract for a LEED-certified building?  Or does he simply believe that the value the owners place upon the LEED certification is solely based upon the energy efficiency strategies that are implemented rather than the cumulative impact of all of the sustainability measures that are part of a LEED building?

This case has just started and many bloggers and other green building professionals (including me) will be analyzing it and writing about as it progresses.   So, there will be more to come on this case.

What do you think about this lawsuit?  Do you think it has merit?