Gifford Lawsuit Against USGBC, LEED Dismissed

A lawsuit filed in October 2010 against the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and its LEED rating systems has been dismissed in a strongly worded ruling issued August 16. Following a motion by USGBC to dismiss the case and a court hearing of oral arguments in July 2011 a judge in federal court in New York City ruled against Henry Gifford and the other plaintiffs, throwing out the case.

The suit, brought by Gifford, a New York-based mechanical systems consultant, centers around his critique that USGBC falsely advertises that LEED guarantees energy savings in LEED-certified buildings (see “USGBC, LEED Targeted by Class-Action Suit,” EBN, Oct. 2010). Rather than issuing an opinion on that critique, however, the court focused on flaws in Gifford’s logic in bringing the case.