Frank Gehry discusses his LEED comments

Frank Gehry

A few months ago, US Infrastructure reported that legendary American architect Frank Gehry had raised a few eyebrows by declaring that energy-saving green architecture and sustainable design is "a political issue" and that the LEED certification is often given for "bogus stuff".

His comments, unsurprisingly, caused quite a reaction in the world of renewable and sustainable design especially when he told Bloomberg Businessweek that green building had become "fetishized" like "wearing an American flag pin".

While the LEED certification may have its flaws, there is no doubt that it has led to businesses investing in green design and making companies care more about their carbon footprint, something that is increasingly important to politicians as well as the public.

This week, Need to Know, a new current affairs show and online news magazine on PBS, sat down with Frank Gehry to speak to him about the LEED controversy and ask what he "really thinks about green buildings, the LEED certification process and the future of sustainable architecture".

Buliding green

In the interview, Mr Gehry states how surprised he was by the negative reactions to his comments about LEED saying, "I wasn't saying what they reported I said. I never said I was opposed to the LEED program or to green building - I'm not."

"I think [global warming] is a crisis, we're led to believe that by our scientists who seem to have a pretty good idea of what's going on, so we have to address it if we want to survive on this planet. Of course there are also some people making hay out of it and using the issue for financial gain, but green building is clearly something architects need to be concerned with."

When pressed about how the LEED certification program was a way to encourage such design, Gehry said, "It is, but it's one way among many. 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."

"There are other ways to encourage green building. For example, we did the Novartis building in Switzerland."

"They don't use the LEED program over there, the government just says this is what you can and can't do, and things have to be built in a sustainable way. So really it's a political thing: People taking responsibility on an individual level combined with government programs that give mandates that say "this is how we're going to require people to build."

"Our federal government is trying to take steps in that direction. I just met with someone from the Obama administration, they are trying to enact tougher standards, but they're having some trouble."

Smart building materials

Frank Gehry also spoke about utilising advanced materials in buildings to make them more energy efficient, such as "smart bricks, smart concrete, smart metal". One example was a company that makes icrete.

In Mr Gehry's words, "It's a concrete substitute that uses 50 percent less concrete in the mix, reducing the carbon footprint by 50 percent. Concrete contributes 8 percent of the world's overall carbon footprint so this concrete would cut that in half and that would make a tremendous difference."

So despite the controversy caused by his earlier comments, it would appear that Frank Gehry is truely behind sustainable design and innovation, he is just wary that for smaller building projects, it is harder to make them greener and that real, substansive change is needed within the industry.

To read the full interview with Frank Gehry on Need To Know, click here.

Relevant articles:

Is sustainable design purely political? |Infrastructure innovation: Self-healing concrete | LEED certification controversy continues

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