How Green Buildings Are Financed Brian Gross, Waronzof Associates
Companies who are looking to acquire or develop revenue-generating real estate projects often have different investment criteria than the traditional green building owner/user. This presentation will review the key financial performance metrics utilized by green building real estate investors and will discuss how green buildings – if properly designed, built, and operated – may deliver superior returns relative to a conventional building. The presentation will also discuss the current drivers and barriers to green building real estate investment, and provide insight into how typical green building features are acknowledged in financial underwriting.
Busting the Myth that Green Costs More GreenJames D. Qualk, SSRCx
Buildings are one of the largest consumers of resources and energy in this country, and according to AIA are responsible for almost half of all carbon emissions in the United States. Since Americans spend nearly 90% of their lives indoors, buildings are clearly important to our way of life. The most common misconception about green building is that these approaches cost more to implement than traditional strategies and techniques of design and construction.
Any decision made in the early stages of programming and design will have economic impacts on the overall building cost. How many floors will our building have? Will we use marble in the lobby? Can we use fancy fixtures in the bathrooms? But according to a Davis Langdon study, there was “…no significant difference in the construction costs for LEED®-seeking versus non-LEED® buildings…” In addition to this widely referenced report, other independent studies by the State of California and the GSA indicate that cost premiums are minimal.
More importantly, first cost is only a small part of the total cost of building ownership. Cost-of-ownership studies agree that first cost only accounts for around 10% of all costs a building owner will spend over the life of the building. The other 90% comes in the form of operation and maintenance – two areas in which designing for LEED certification can save enormously. Any additional costs for building green are recouped in one to two years on average, with exponential cost savings thereafter that leave traditional construction far behind.
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