Building green isn't just about improving your health or saving the planet. Today's techniques can also save you money and make your projects more marketable.
Green building techniques reduce energy and water use, improve indoor air quality, are sensitive to site development issues, incorporate environmentally friendly building materials, and more. Building green benefits:
Benefits to Design and Construction Professionals
Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan predicts annual construction growth through 2009 will include over 13 million square feet of residential (single and multifamily) construction, and over 5 million square feet of commercial and industrial construction. With Seattle positioned as a national leader in green building, opportunities to go green abound.
Developers and design and construction professionals benefit from employing green building practices in many ways:
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Market advantage. As demand increases for green buildings and the firms that build them, those that demonstrate expertise in green building will be natural candidates for prospective projects.
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Goodwill. Becoming known as a "green firm" can enhance your business’ reputation in the community and help you recruit and retain a superior workforce.
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Proactive regulatory stance. Employing design and construction practices that routinely exceed code means your firm is primed for future increases in code stringency, reducing ramp-up and retooling costs.
Benefits to Building Owners and Occupants
Contrary to popular belief, green building may not always cost more. If it does, a price premium of 1-3% can also pay back over time, and provide the following benefits:
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Increased property value. As a superior product, a green building can yield increased value to the owner. For example, Green Value: Green Buildings, Growing Assets, a study of 11 green buildings in the U.S. and Canada, found that--in addition to the payback efficiency measures provide over time--a "green" designation can also increase a building's market value as assessed by appraisers and investors.
- Increased return on investment. Up-front investments in green designs and technology can yield financial paybacks over the life of the building in the form of lower utility bills and reduced operating and maintenance costs. For example, a 2003 report, The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings, prepared for California’s Sustainable Building Taskforce, analyzed both first costs and 20 year operational costs and savings of 30 completed LEED projects. On average the additional first cost was 2%, or $3.00-$5.00/square foot. However, the total 20 year net present value of improvements attributed to energy, emissions, water, waste and commissioning is $11.98.
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Enhanced occupant health and well-being. Access to daylight and fresh air and creating an environment free of toxins and irritants helps protect building occupant health and enhances well-being. This too can result in a financial benefit: the same study referenced above reports a benefit to health and productivity that dwarfs even the reduced resource use savings. Adding the value of improved tenant health and productivity, the 20 year net present value for LEED Certified and Silver buildings is $48.87 and for Gold and Platinum $67.31.
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Boost occupant productivity. Numerous studies show the productivity benefits of fresh air and natural light in buildings, and conversely, the negative impact of poor indoor environmental quality. The Heschong-Mahone Group found that the quality of light and air in a workspace can affect worker productivity by up to 20% either positively or negatively.
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Increased sales and leasing potential: Green building features can help close the deal. For example, the Brewery Blocks in Portland, OR leased out more quickly and at an enhanced rate per square foot than comparable space in the Portland market, even as a depressed economy was resulting in a net loss of leased space across the city. (See the Brewery Blocks case study for more.)
Benefits to Seattle’s Communities and the Environment
Many benefits of green building don’t register on the bottom line of the developer, design or construction professional or building owner or occupant. But the benefits are still tangible and valuable:
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Enhancement of community and local economy
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Public health benefits
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Protection of threatened and endangered species
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Supporting sustainable resource use
