Rating system is easy to game and has countless loopholes, says DANIEL BROOK
12:00 AM CST on Sunday, January 6, 2008
In a high-end Mumbai neighborhood, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's
personal high-rise, named Antilia, is under construction. When
completed, the 24-story family home will include its own health club,
terraced sky-gardens and 50-seat screening room.
Antilia also boasts three helipads and a 168-car garage. This may sound
like transportation overkill, if not outright eco-terrorism, for a
family of six. But despite its 38-to-1 car-to-person ratio, Antilia has
been billed by its American architects as a "green building." And under
the leading standards for green architecture, it will likely qualify.
Antilia's architects, Perkins & Will of Chicago, plan to evaluate its
greenness based on the criteria of the U.S. Green Building Council, a
nonprofit founded in 1993 "to advance structures that are
environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and
work." The group's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating
system, launched in 2000, has become the widely accepted standard.
cont'd....
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