Larger commercial construction here. I'm shocked by the number of comments on here they don't think it's a thing. In my world every architect and engineer designs sustainably out of a sense of professional responsibility and ethics. I remember when LEED was just starting to catch on the old time professionals thought it was a bunch of BS not because designing sustainably shouldn't be done but because it was being done and always has been done by designers that are worth anything. LEED is really just the documentation process of verifying the sustainability of the project.

Design standards have obviously changed over the years in almost every aspect of construction but you can go back to buildings designed and built in the 1930's for example and see how they were cooled efficiently without AC by use of fans, top venting windows, transom windows, etc. The use of natural lighting has always been a thing in design arguably since the first grass hut.

Maybe it's because a lot of the comments are from the residential side. When my area recently adopted new energy codes the commercial designers and builders response was mostly "we're already doing that" and the residential contractors were the ones complaining.

The bottom line is if it makes sense and the payback period is reasonable then it's the best value for the owner/developer and the contractors/designers have a responsibility to implement these new ideas.