In the past OGBL published a series on the lawsuit between the Ohio Green Building Forum and the State of Ohio involving allegations of improper use of grant funding. The lawsuit grinds on, with the Forum having filed papers on December 20, 2013, seeking to preclude a trial on the merits. The State of Ohio has until mid-January to file its response.
The present offers a mixed bag of good tidings and threats, as the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission this month announced its 100th LEED Certified public education facility, and the Ohio Assembly introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 25, urging the state to abandon the LEED as the green building rating system of choice (with this author featured in a Columbus Business First article on the topic).
The future of green building in the Buckeye State is up for grabs, as competing visions (encapsulated by editorials in the Columbus Dispatch in opposition to, and support of, SCR25) vie for supremacy.
Will the Ohio Assembly abandon LEED without first undertaking any independent analysis of the cost/benefit of the Buckeye State’s multibillion dollar investment (OFCC reports that the 100 schools certified to date are 35% more energy-efficient & use 37% less water than buildings built to previous standards, obtained 35% of their material from regional sources, and diverted over 188,114 tons of construction waste from Ohio landfills), and without offering any comparable third-party verification system as an alternative?
If SCR25 goes down, will the powerful and well-financed forces opposed to LEED simply fold their tent, or will they return with a vengeance?
Here’s to hoping that, no matter how things play out, we all put a little more love in our hearts in 2014.
