Why is indoor air quality such a huge deal with the LEED system? I mean, isn't it more the whole saving the planet thing than the preserving the conditioned environment?

Better still- why are there an entire chapter of Indoor Environmnetal Quality Credits, but none of them address specific materials issues?

I mean, you get a point for installing a central vaccuming system, but the whole carpet-vs-solid surface argument isn't even addressed? Have you ever taken up carpet?

And then you get your VOCs measured and whatnot for credit, but is it too complicated to, say, specifically ban using the rain forest for your floor? Sustainably-harvest or recycled native wood or bamboo should be worth more than old-growth brazilian cherry, shouldn't it?

Of course, you can always go into the creative credits and get approval for special things like "50% of this type of thing that went into my house was harvested and produced with 20 miles of the building site", which is awesome and reduces the carbon footprint and everything.

Is there an independent rating system that takes into account something like how many shower heads you provide per expected resident? Or something that gives you bonus points for not putting four toilets in a two-bedroom house?

Because it makes sense to me that LEED would provide points for using high-efficiency and very high efficiency faucets, shower heads, and toilets, but there should be some kind of system in place to curb an over-proliferation of water-using devices, shouldn't there? Of course, that could get complicated way too fast.

I guess it's the same problem with irrigation systems, in a way- you don't get any points for having a small amount of space that needs irrigating, because it's all judged as a percentage of the site as a whole. Another thing- I have never watered a lawn in my life, but you either have to provide an irrigation system, using grey water and stored rain water, or you have to get your landscaping designed so a professional will stamp it saying it needs no irrigating. I suppose a professional could stamp existing landscaping- say, a forest- and say that what you have doesn't need irrigating, but they haven't specifically addressed that yet.