The blind LEEDing the more blind

I recently started the documentation portion of my first project which is going for LEED certification (it's going for silver, but time will tell). My first impression is exactly what I have always assumed about LEED, it takes a lot of extra time and money to get a fancy plaque in the lobby of the building.

Did I say money, oh yes, it takes a lot of cash. The current estimates are that going for a LEED certification will add 5 to 10 percent of cost onto a project. And that's just for the project, take a look at the this link and click on "brochure" to realize that the USGBC (the organization behind LEED) is charging people 75 cents for a brochure about why their system is so great. They're charging you for a sales tool to try and convince your customers to give the USGBC more money, so that they can "earn" the right to buy a plaque (that's right, even after paying thousands of dollars to register and submit all of the documents you still have to pay for the plaque) and have their building listed on the USGBC website.

I'm all for sustainable design, lessening our environmental impact, being environmentally conscious as well as the myriad of terms people like to gloss over by saying "green." However, if the only reason you want to do those things is so you can brag about it, you seem to have missed the point.