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| New AQS report knocks down economic stumbling blocks to green building A new report from Air Quality Sciences, entitled "If You Build It Green, They Will Come, " provides convincing evidence that building green is not as cost prohibitive as critics claim. Although sustainable (green) building is catching on across the US, questions about higher first costs and lower return on investment remain a stumbling block for many developers, designers, building owners and facility managers. The bottom line is first costs associated with green building are significantly lower (0 to 3%) than previously reported (10% to 25%). Clearly, green building is affordable. The economic outlook gets even better if improvements in people's comfort and productivity are taken into account and green building goals are incorporated as early as possible into the design process. Based on a review of major economic studies of buildings designed and constructed to meet LEED Green Building Rating System™ requirements, this report addresses the issues most on the minds of those who may have an interest in developing, designing and constructing green buildings, but up to this point have been hesitant. In addition to concerns about higher first costs and lower returns on investment, the report also takes a look at building commissioning and building flush out, two important strategies for creating healthy indoor environments. The studies reviewed found that depending on the size of the project, commissioning costs may range from 0.3% to 4.0% of construction costs. Energy savings (up to 10%) can more than make up for these costs. Commissioning also can realize savings by significantly reducing or even eliminating costly change orders, reducing requests for cost information, ensuring proper system/component selection, improving building systems performance and reducing call backs, the report said. Flushing out a building with 100% outdoor air for a period of time prior to a building being occupied is an effective way to remove indoor air contaminants, such as volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, particulates and fungi to name a few examples. While the ideal is to continually flush out a building during construction, it may not be practical for some projects. In these cases, a sound green building practice is to reduce the flush out time to two weeks at the end of the project, the report said. Other cost-effective strategies noted in the report include: - Selecting and using low-emitting materials, such as those certified by the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute, which can minimize the need and potentially shorten the time needed for flushing out the building - Sampling and analysis of indoor air as a part of the commissioning process to confirm low levels of indoor contaminants, which often can be done for less than the energy costs of flushing out the building With the green building trend gaining momentum, those who still have questions or doubt its economic value will benefit from reading this report. It also can help those who are committed to green building make convincing arguments by reducing their time to research these important issues. The report features a bibliography of the studies reviewed. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Construction News :: home page |