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The email from Banks Woodruff popped up last week, titled
LEED Certification Fails to Increase Energy Efficiency. The first paragraph:

Today, LEED Exposed, a project of the Environmental Policy Alliance (EPA), released research showing that large privately-owned buildings in Washington D.C. certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, actually use more energy than uncertified buildings.

It didn’t really seem worth covering; the site gave no information about who was behind it, got most of the facts wrong in its exposé of the “arbitrary point system” including my favorite, the famous bike rack point, years out of date.

Who’s behind LEED Exposed?

It wasn’t exactly an august organization either, this Environmental Policy Alliance; their website was just registered on February 5 and LEED exposed just registered on December 13. Woodruff’s researchorg.com isn’t even on WHOIS yet. Their website listed no staff or address or board of directors, they barely existed.      

A google search on the phone number of Banks Woodruff shows him operating out of the offices of the Center For Consumer Freedom, described as “a pro-food-and-beverage industry front group that attacks anyone who criticizes smoking, fast food or alcohol” on Berman Exposed, a site devoted to the antics of Richard Berman. They describe Berman as..

…a regular front man for business and industry in campaigns against consumer safety and environmental groups. Through his public affairs firm, Berman and Company, Berman has fought unions, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, PETA and other watchdog groups in their efforts to raise awareness about obesity, the minimum wage, the dangers of smoking, mad cow disease, drunk driving, and other causes.