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Reap Green Building Benefits Without Spending Too Much Green

By Daniele Loffreda

Green Building movement sweeping the country

“Pepsi Co. Facility Goes Green, Gets Gold”. “PNC Bank is in the Green”. ” Buildings Go Green to Save Energy”. “New Standard to Bring Green Building Practices to the Mainstream”.

Headlines from coast to coast are heralding the tidal wave of green building. Until recently the domain of environmentalists, academics, scientists, government agencies and a minority of building professionals, the green building movement now counts developers, building owners, property managers and business executives among its adherents. The reason - as recently expressed by a developer client - “It’s good business”.

Three fundamental elements of green building define “good business”:

Economic. Studies of high performance green buildings show:

• Average 30% reduction in energy costs, 30%-50% reduction in water usage and over 50% savings in waste costs
  
• Asset value increases on the average of 7.5%
  
• Increased occupancy rates averaging 3.5%, with an average 3% lease premium
  
• Customer demand: Many cities, states and most government agencies require their projects to comply with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system
  

Environmental. Buildings exert a hefty influence on the environment:

• In the U.S. buildings consume 36% of total energy generated and nearly 70% of all electricity produced;
  
• They consume 12% of all potable water in the country
  
• Account for 30% of all raw materials produced
  
• Generate about 136 million tons of waste per year
  
• Emit 30% of all green house gases, a major contributor to global warming
  

Health and Community A growing body of research correlates green buildings with the health and productivity of their occupants:

• Employee productivity increases ranging from 0.7% to 26.1%
  
• Employee health improvement (i.e., reduced absenteeism) an average of 41%
  
• Student performance improvements of 20% in green schools
  
• Higher average sales per square foot in green retail buildings

Of course, all green buildings are not created equal, and not all of them achieve such stellar results.

Understanding ‘Green Building’

To determine whether your building will benefit from ‘going green’, it’s important to first understand just what it means. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) defines green building as “design and construction practices that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environment and occupants in five broad areas”:

1. Sustainable Site Planning

2. Safeguarding Water and Water Efficiency

3. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

4. Conservation of Materials and Resources

5. Indoor Environmental Quality

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

The USGBC created the LEED rating system to provide a consistent, credible benchmark for the design, construction operation and certification of the worlds greenest buildings. The LEED rating system includes standards for all phases of a building’s life cycle: New Construction, Building Core and Shell and Commercial Interiors focus on green design and construction strategies. LEED for Existing Buildings focuses on green operations and maintenance. Buildings achieve tiered levels of certification – Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum based upon the number of earned for achieving credits within the five broad areas mentioned above

Costs associated with achieving LEED certification include the up front costs involved in achieving the selected credits, and the administrative costs of the certification process. Depending upon the level achieved, A study of LEED projects built over the past ten years show an average first cost ‘green premium’ of 1.8% above a non-LEED building. Other studies indicate a cost premium range of 0% to 7%. Although each building is unique, experience proves that you can minimize any cost premium by engaging a project team that is intimately familiar with with green building principles, and by incorporating green features as early in the process as possible. Many of the projects in the study realized payback periods as short as 3 years.

Energy is the First Step to Greening Your Building

The LEED system may appear daunting, especially for smaller new construction projects and older existing buildings. Not to worry. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy teamed jointly developed the ENERGY STAR performance rating system. ENERGY STAR offers tools and resources to help organizations improve their energy performance. The flagship Portfolio Manager tool is available to companies of all sizes to help baseline a buildings energy use, and determine reasonable energy savings goals.

The ENERGY STAR Upgrade Manual is a comprehensive guide to planning and implementing cost effective upgrades to improve a building’s energy performance. The manual details a multi-stage process and proven energy-efficient technologies that can provide energy savings of 35% or more. The steps begin with low cost recommendations such as Building Tuneups, and progress gradually through Lighting System Upgrades to Mechanical Systems Upgrades. Each step produces both an incremental savings and an incremental cost. Top performing buildings are recognized with the ENERGY STAR label.

Building Systems Lighting System Building Reduce Mechanical Re-Commissioning plus Upgrade plus Envelope plus Solar Gain plus Systems And ‘Tune Up

Energy efficiency equipment costs can be partially offset through Federal and State tax incentives. Energy Performance Contracts and Savings Share plans are popular vehicles for recouping capital outlays.

Achieving LEED certification or earning the ENERGY STAR label yield tangible cost savings, productivity enhancements, recognition and marketing benefits. However, you don’t need to implement the full array of green building strategies included in either program, nor is it absolutely necessary to become certified. Implementing even a few of the techniques in either program will yield real results.

The decision on which program to follow, which level to achieve and whether of not to certify should be based upon a careful examination of your organization’s objectives, building project, and budget. Engaging experienced green building professionals will ensure that you reap the benefits of green without wasting your hard earned green.

About the Author

Daniele Loffreda is Managing Principal of Plateau Enviro Associates, a consulting firm specializing in green building, sustainable communities and marketing communications. He serves on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Greenbuilding Council Colorado Chapter, and is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional

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Bob Moore Construction This website was created as a public service to promote green building and LEED certification in Dallas / Fort Worth (DFW) Texas, by Bob Moore Construction. Located in DFW, Bob Moore Construction is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and is the first Platinum Level member of the USGBC north Texas chapter. Bob Moore Construction has been a leading construction company in Texas since 1946, and is a member of AGC, Tilt-up Concrete Association and the OSHA Local Partnership Program. General Contractor.com