Thomas Schroepfer

“Moving Beyond LEED”

in Mohsen Mostafavi and Gareth Doherty (eds.) Ecological Urbanism
Zurich: Lars Müller Publishers, 2010

To evaluate the success of sustainable projects at the urban scale and make useful comparisons of various efforts, it is necessary to develop more sophisticated measurement tools and methodologies. At present, tools such as LEED measure only individual building performance against a standard, and ways for accessing sustainable design within a comprehensive framework are still emerging. With eco-cities being built around the world, how can the critical role that design plays in the creation of sustainable urban environments be brought to the foreground through an evaluation process? The contribution describes two established eco-cities that suggest new approaches: Vauban Freiburg, Germany and solarCity Linz, Austria.