Frank Gehry slams LEED, calls sustainable design 'political'

CHICAGO, IL — Frank Gehry, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect responsible for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Dancing House in Prague, has slammed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, saying it is awarded for "bogus stuff" and that climate change and sustainable design are "political" issues, according Inhabitat.

The LEED rating system for buildings awards points for energy-saving features, but it has been criticized in the past.

"A lot of LEED is given for bogus stuff. The costs of making a green building are ''enormous,'' Gehry said."They don’t pay back in your lifetime.."

In some countries, making the average family home more energy efficient can cost as much as $12,000. With CO2 emissions being cited as the main cause of global warming, the costs of making buildings more eco-friendly aren’t paid back in our lifetime; not all costs, after all, are financial, the article noted.