The Ohio Senate has passed SCR 25, a bill to ban the use of the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED v4 by state agencies. The bill has been sent to the state General Assembly. If this passes the House, no state project will be eligible for LEED registration/certification after summer 2015, when LEED v3 sunsets. The bill's author (pictured) is Senator Joe Uecker (R-14th District), but a letter published at cleveland.com contends former Ohio Senate President Tom Niehaus, now a lobbyist for the chemical industry, drafted the resolution. USGBC says chemical lobbyists are behind this bill, and pushed it through the Ohio State Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Senators Uecker is a member of that committee, as is cosponsor Tim Schaffer. Twenty-one Ohio-based businesses, professionals and constituents submitted testimony in opposition to SCR 25.

The Ohio Senate has passed a bill (SCR No. 25) to end LEED in Ohio. The bill contends the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED v4 green building system "fails to conform to recognized voluntary standard development procedures, including but not limited to American National Standards Institute (ANSI) procedures, and fails to base environmental and health criteria on risk assessment methodology."

The bill's author is Senator Joe Uecker (R-14th District); cosponsors are Senators Schaffer, Coley and Hite.

Ohio leads the country in LEED-certified public schools (120), with hundreds more in the LEED pipeline. "Since 2007, we've watched the OSFC (Ohio School Facilities Commission) successfully grow a program that shows LEED is working for Ohio," said Rachel Gutter, director of the Center for Green Schools at USGBC. "These schools are saving money, energy and resources. Ohio shows a deep commitment to the well-being of its students, teachers and communities through the use of LEED," she added.

The bill states the OFCC would continue to incorporate energy efficiency and sustainable design features into approved school projects "through the use of alternative green building rating systems, codes, and standards other than LEED v4."

"We're very disappointed to see Ohio state senators listening to powerful, high-paid special interest groups and not Ohio citizens, hundreds of whom have voiced their concerns and opposition to SCR 25 since it was introduced last fall," said Tyler Steele, vice chairman of the board of directors for the USGBC Central Ohio Chapter.

SCR 25 specifies that green building rating systems, codes, or standards be:

-consistent with state energy efficiency, environmental performance objectives and policies; -"developed in an open and transparent way with the input of Ohio building materials and products manufacturers and harvesters to ensure"?(R)?[they] are consistent with Ohio objectives and policies."

USGBC counters that LEED is the premier green building rating system, and a voluntary, transparent and consensus-based program that incorporates all facets of building construction and materials.

The bill states that a green building rating be "properly grounded in science and include the use of environmental and health criteria based on risk assessment methodology generally accepted by applicable scientific disciplines."

The bill calls for the LEED v4 green building rating system to "no longer be used by Ohio's state agencies and government entities until the USGBC conforms its system development to the ANSI voluntary consensus standard procedures as confirmed by ANSI or until the state, after an opportunity for public comment and participation, incorporates the LEED v4 system by reference, in whole or in part, into the administrative rules for state agency or government entity building standards."

USGBC says SCR 25 will stall the job creation that LEED's success has fostered, especially during the state's economic recovery. In a Feb. 4 hearing before the Ohio Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Neil Beup, manager of state government relations for United Technologies Corporation (UTC), submitted testimony on behalf of over 1,400 UTC employees and their families in Ohio. He voiced strong support for the LEED green building program and opposition to SCR 25, which he said "would stifle Ohio's ability to achieve two critical goals in any school project: improved student performance and lower costs."

USGBC reports it was "quite apparent who was behind the effort, when a drove of chemical industry lobbyists from DC joined the bill's sponsor for testimony."

Brenda Schultz of Nucor Steel in Marion, Ohio also testified: "Ohio must not abandon its use of LEED certification. The system promotes energy efficiency, preservation of our natural resources and encourages state projects funded by state taxpayers to use locally-sourced materials, thereby benefitting Ohio-based businesses like Nucor."

Twenty-one Ohio-based businesses, professionals and constituents submitted testimony in opposition to SCR 25, including Owens Corning, United Technologies Corporation, and a student of a Dayton-area high school. In addition, a letter adamantly opposing SCR 25 was signed and submitted to leadership of the Ohio state legislature by 20 organizations that invest in Ohio, including Johnson Controls, Ingersoll Rand, GAF, Siemens and Saint-Gobain.

Ohioans can express their opinion on LEED to their representatives at www.ohiohouse.gov/index, or call (800) 282-0253.