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February 15, 2011
Gehry's 8 Spruce Street isn't pursuing LEED certification; Gang's Aqua is
Chicago Tribune
by Blair Kamin
"Do-gooder, liberals" Frank Gehry and Bruce Ratner aren't pursuing LEED certification for their Spruce Street skyscraper.
I wondered whether 8 Spruce Street is a green building, given that Gehry ignited a food fight in the architectural blogosphere last year when (not without reason) he dissed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system of certifying green buildings. In remarks made in Chicago, the Pritzker Prize winner also observed that green buildings, which often require extra upfront costs, don't pay back "in your lifetime."
Clearly stung by the outcry his remarks caused, Gehry later clarified and said that he supports green building practices. But he added that LEED isn't the only way to measure eco-friendly design. "A lot of our clients don’t apply for the LEED certification because it’s complicated and in their view, they simply don’t need it," he said.
Looks like the developer of 8 Spruce Street, Forest City Ratner Companies, is one of those clients.
"It won't be LEED certified," a spokeswoman for the project told me Monday in a phone interview. "It is, in many respects, a green building. We [are] not going to go through the formal process."
Posted by eric at February 15, 2011 11:52 AM