The Economics of Green

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Permalink Reply by Joe Shoemaker on March 16, 2008 at 10:30am

http://www.usgbc.org

The US Green Building Council has a terrific amount of data to support "green" building. If you're not an active member, join and get active.

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Permalink Reply by Luke Leising on March 31, 2008 at 9:53am

Greg,
There are a lot of information out there but it is not easy to get a hold of. I am an engineer and architect focusing on green. I would look at the report from Davis Langdon, 2007 - The Cost of Green Revisited. Great data based on the west coast focusing on LEED building.

Best of luck
Luke

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Permalink Reply by Greg Smallwood on March 31, 2008 at 10:16am

Thanks Luke….
Appreciate the heads up on the report.
Couple of additional ideas for friends, colleagues and interested parties to contemplate:
1. Healthcare movement towards sustainable design and green’s impact on cost & quality of care; go here – GGHC website (www.gghc.org).
2. Impact of existing commercial leases on Green. Uploading (I hope) copy of short PDF article which spells out some of the opportunities and challenges for specifically for us…

Attachments:

• Overview of Green Office Leases-2006.pdf, 288 KB

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Permalink Reply by Linda Broadfoot on April 8, 2008 at 3:21pm

Greg~

If you ever need a speaker for your group, we at Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. are happy to come in and give our spiel on what we're doing to "green up" Indianapolis and how folks like your team can get involved.

~Linda

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Permalink Reply by Rodchenko Werner on April 19, 2008 at 9:37am

here's an article about LEED certified buildings and higher rents/occupancies.

http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx?id=D968F1E0DCF73712B03A099E...

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Permalink Reply by Greg Smallwood on April 19, 2008 at 10:11am

Thank you very much!!.
Have forwarded link to article to our firms green team for discussion during our group's next meeting (next week).
Question: are you familiar with reference "grey water" and its uses?

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Permalink Reply by Luke Leising on April 21, 2008 at 8:51am

Greg,
I have looked iat greywater on a few designs. First thing - check with the municipality as some places won't allow this. It is a pretty good strategy to reduce water consumption. In some areas of the country w/ water concerns this is a great idea. If you ever want to grab breakfast to discuss things let me know.

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Permalink Reply by Eric J. Anderson on April 30, 2008 at 11:43pm

There are studies out there that suggest increased productivity in employees that work in 'green' buildings. In larger companies, a 5% increase in worker productivity could pay for any and all of the more expensive sustainable building ideas. If doing the right thing for the environment isn't enough this increase revenue may be.

See also: http://www.thegreenworkplace.com/2007/12/green-workplaces-increase-... I found that after a very quick google search, I'm sure there is more info out there. See also the book, Natural Capitalism and it's associated website for other reasons beyond worker productivity: http://www.natcap.org/

I hope this helps,
Eric

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Permalink Reply by Bill Brown on May 11, 2008 at 9:53pm

Greg,

You think that the public sector should consider maximizing taxpayer return on investment, improving worker health and productivity, decreasing absenteeism, increasing hiring success and retention, decreasing long-term operating and maintenance costs, eliminating waste and improving the environment and their bottom line through integrated high-performance design? That's a pretty radical concept, man.

You cite the case of Adobe that spent $ 1.4 million up front to save $1.2 million per year in operating costs. They received another $385,000 in rebates from their utility company. Their payback was less than a year and their ROI was 121%. I guess your clients think they are better off with business as usual. Better safe than outstanding. They can argue that mediocrity carries minimal risk in the public realm. It's a good thing that they don't have to compete with the likes of Adobe. Adobe and hundreds of other major for-profit corporations have already seen the green light. Have a look at the McGraw-Hill Smart Market research report that shows that 82% of the top 500 corporations plan to green at least 16% of their real estate by 2009.

Suggestions?

You can go on meeting and researching for years, but nobody is going to tap you on the shoulder and ask you to do a green infrastructure project. You just have to start doing them that way. Call it smart design or high-performance design, not green design, and you will have no problem with your clients or their budget or their schedule. Now, if it's your own firm you are having a hard time convincing, that is another story, but the advice is exactly the same. Just do it. Unlike your clients, you are in a for-profit business and you can ill afford to miss the big green wave. There are plenty of people on this list who can help you with the details.

Catch the wave! Those are shark-infested waters you are treading water in! Hang ten! See you on higher ground.

Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Greg Smallwood on May 11, 2008 at 10:26pm

Very good advice, Bill...
I am doing exactly that...
(Calling it something else)
Challenge for me is those who I work with... Part of the industry (public and private sectors) remain fixated on low bidders regardless of operating costs.
Will update this thread with some progress that we are staring to see locally.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy B. Housman on June 12, 2008 at 7:58am

Greg:

Our company promotes Teleworking as a means of "going green". Our solutions are designed aroud a distributed workforce model and the technology necessary to make it a seamless transition from commuting to a work-at-home (or anywhere) model. Even at 2-3 days a week it is a responsible and highly effective way of being environmentally responsible. I am hoping that more companies will see this as a benefit to them and not just the employees. Companiees who have started this kind of initiative have seen enormous savings in many areas.
Tim

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Permalink Reply by Arlan Landey on July 15, 2008 at 8:24am

As a manufacturer of green building products who happens also to have once been a steel broker, I watch the commodities "futures" quite closely.

I have several futures contacts who assure me that we will see a tri-fold increase in the cost of natural gas within the next three to five years - probably sooner.

Those involved in Commercial building ownership need to consider very strongly their variable costs budgeting as a result!

Shameless Plug: We manufacture a "green" product here in Indiana that in MOST of our buildings to date (residential primarily) air conditioning is NOT used during the summer months. We have a "static" R-Value (Delta T temperature shifts and relative humidity does NOT alter the R-Value), qualify for the "massive multiplier" (although only 8" thick), and have a molecular density in our clay that does not permit the entry of radiant energy (resulting in no need for air conditioning).

On the heating end of the spectrum, using last year's costs for heating with gas, we average a reduction in the use of gas by about 80%. (windows and doors are the factor that we cannot control).

Our goal is to ensure that NEW structures will have a pay-back - energy costs will soon overcome the mortgage costs in the residential realm if costs increase as some predict. Even if they don't, consumable income is being eaten up by gasoline and the rising food prices.

Although we manufacture just outside Indianapolis, the concept of energy and green consumption has been very slow to take root in Indiana. We are becoming well-known on the West Coast and other places where LEED and sustainable building is being promoted as the "norm."

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