LEED voting rules change

The USGBC announced a change in its voting rules Tuesday, with the result that the open ballot on LEED for Retail will be restarted under the new rules.

Under the old rules the designated "primary contact" for an organization submitted the organization's one vote, presumably after discussion with interested members of that organization. Under the new rules all full-time employees of member organizations may vote on open LEED ballots, with the organization's vote distributed proportionally among the votes received from its employees.

One can guess at circumstances that might have driven such change, but I'm not certain the end result is necessarily better. I'm reminded of the studies that come out from time to time --usually, I think, preceding an American presidential election when the existence of the Electoral College is regularly questions-- that show that there is no one system of voting that is superior to all others in all situations.

Be that as it may, up for ballot now are: LEED 2009 for Retail: New Construction and LEED 2009 for Retail: Commercial Interiors. These can be seen at www.usgbc.org/leed/retail.

Vote early, vote often.