From the Editor
You think LEED certification is tough? Consider the following: in the German Sustainable Building Council’s corresponding green building rating system, designers and owners must consider and achieve every single one of 51 criteria, from bicycle friendliness to roof design to “art within architecture.” Miss one credit, no certification. Everything is a prerequisite.

If each strategy is achieved at its minimum level, the result would still be a better, more environmentally responsible building than one built to standard code, according to a German Sustainable Building Council source. But to get a certification, buildings are rated on the degree to which they achieve each of the 51 criteria, on a scale of 1 to 10, with some credits weighted more than others. Buildings are awarded a Bronze, Silver or Gold certification, and the results are presented in an easy-to-read spider diagram.

Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, a shimmering 120,000 square-meter (about 1.3 million square feet) two-tower building undergoing a 200 million Euro (about $270 million) renovation, will be one of the first buildings in the world to achieve both a LEED certification (at the Platinum level, if all goes well) as well as a Gold certification with the German system.

On a tour of the building this week, as part of a week-long exploration of German green building and alternative energy strategies organized by a German think tank called the Ecologic Institute, I learned from the bank’s green building guru that, yes, in fact, the German system is much, much more difficult than LEED. He went so far to say that “LEED is lacking on energy issues,” which is one area the U.S. Green Building Council ramped up with last year’s new version of LEED.

But it is worth mentioning that an unlimited budget, as Deutsche Bank seems to possess, makes greening a whole lot simpler. The degree to which this project really stands as a model of sustainability is an open question. In fact, many would make the argument that being sustainable on a shoestring budget is a much more impressive feat. Either way, the Deutsche Bank project can at least serve as a model for cutting-edge green technologies in practice, which may speed adoption by other organizations hoping to achieve similar results.

As always, I’d love to hear from you. Have you had any experience with foreign green building rating systems? How do they compare to LEED?

Cheers,

PS. And, yes, if you’re wondering, due to the volcanic ash cloud lingering over much of Europe, I am still stuck here in Germany – until at least Wednesday (4/21).

Green Strategies
Divided on Climate Change

This article looks at the current state of climate change legislation in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to implement greenhouse gas regulations.

In the News
Los Angeles Gets an Energy Star
For the second year in a row, Los Angeles tops the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list of cities with the most Energy Star-labeled buildings.

Green Toolkit
German Sustainable Building Council
This site (in English) includes everything you’d need to know about the DGNB (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Nachhaltiges Bauen) rating system, including case studies and images of the “spider chart” used to display a building’s rating.

GreenTech Conference & Exposition

An Introduction to LEED-EB

This presentation by Jim Newman of the Newman Consulting Group at the 2010 GreenTech Conference & Exposition delves into the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance rating system and provides facility managers tips and tricks on how to achieve many of the individual credits.