Michael Horowitz

In preparation for his final document, Michael Horowitz is questioning the manner in which homes are being rated by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and other internationally-recognized green building certification systems. Can they truly be rating sustainable building and development practices when the size of the building in relation to the number of occupants does not seem to be a significant part of their calculations? Horowitz explains the problem, “Overall, size is one of the most significant contributing factors to the resource efficiency, and therefore the environmental impact of a home. In short, it is possible to save more energy by reductions in size, than by increases in the quality of energy efficient construction.” Horowitz will be using sustainability as a lens through which to view policy, leadership, design and management as they relate to green building. Through his research he intends to highlight how the current green building certification systems contains a socioeconomic bias towards larger homes with “nifty green features,” AKA "Green McMansions.” He plans to propose alternative ways of measurement that take sustainability into account.