Building “green” is the practice of using sustainable design and development techniques to create or renovate structures in an environmentally responsible manner by integrating resource-efficient products and processes throughout the life cycle of a building. Why bother? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, buildings alone account for 39% of total energy use, 12% of total water consumption, 68% of total electricity consumption, and 38% of carbon dioxide emissions. This consumption of energy and resources, coupled with the environmental effects of air and water pollution, waste, stormwater runoff, and heat islands, results not only in lost resources and environmental degradation, but also in harm to human health.
Overview
Although sustainable design and development techniques were practiced more than a century ago, today’s “green” movement was born during the last energy crisis in the 1970s. During the OPEC oil embargo, architects, environmentalists, and ecologists worked to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. As the crisis receded, the U.S. Department of Energy was created to address energy usage and conservation. In the 1990s, the United Nations held the first “Earth Summit” to address sustainability on a global level, and the White House underwent its own “greening” by successfully implementing energy-conservation techniques at 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue and at the Old Executive Office Building across the street. The success of the White House project led to the greening of other properties in the federal portfolio. Though not necessarily on the public radar, these greening projects, along with progressive movements overseas and the emergence of the U.S. Green Building Council (“USGBC”), ushered sustainable development into the mass market.
Environmental Performance Through Sustainable Practices
The goal of sustainable development is to achieve continuing economic prosperity while protecting the natural systems of the planet and providing a high quality of life. Building green dovetails with this goal by promoting practices that implement energy efficiency, conserve resources, reduce waste, and promote smart growth. Sustainable building practices are intended to reduce environmental impacts of development from cradle to grave, ideally creating a cycle that is more like cradle to cradle.
Any type of building, old or new, can be made “green” based on its design, function, and efficiency needs. Currently, there is no national green building code mandating green standards. This has led to a sub-industry of neutral third-party verifiers who confirm, rate, and certify energy efficiency and other sustainable practices. Several green rating or certification systems for commercial development have achieved national recognition, including the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”), Audubon International, and Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes. For residential construction, there are green certifications for developers and renovators to follow through LEED, as well as Model Green Home Building Guidelines of the National Association of Homebuilders. Each program looks to verify a project’s ability to qualify as sustainable by considering elements such as site selection, low-impact design, energy efficiency, water efficiency (including reduced use and stormwater management), indoor air quality, green waste management pollution reduction, and selective resource consumption.
Currently, LEED has attained the most market recognition, having been implemented in 2001 with its third iteration, LEED 2009, released this spring. LEED divides factors involved in development and building into categories and assigns a certain number of credits to each factor. A developer can pick and choose which factors to incorporate into a project in order to earn enough credits to have the project awarded one of four LEED levels: Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum (the highest standard). Locally, Raleigh’s Convention Center re-opened last fall after having achieved LEED Silver certification, and Proximity Hotel in Greensboro opened in 2007 as the country’s first LEED Platinum hotel.
The benefit of such certification is that not only are LEED-certified buildings designed and built to use key resources more efficiently when compared to conventional buildings which are simply “built to code,” but also their attractiveness to potential purchasers and tenants is enhanced by the certification. Green buildings are becoming more valuable economic assets. Green retrofitting not only improves energy efficiency in existing building stock, one of the biggest contributors to green house gas emissions, but it also offers an attractive product to buyers and tenants.
Economic Performance of Green Buildings
When designed and constructed properly, green buildings offer durability, reduced energy consumption, reduced operating costs, and, purportedly, improved employee health, productivity, and satisfaction. Although the up-front costs are often higher, more money is saved over the life-cycle of a building through lower operating and repair costs. Therefore, the cost equation nets to reduced costs, optimized life cycle of the structure, and increased performance of persons and businesses occupying the structure.
The embrace of green by the Obama administration also cannot be overlooked. Financial incentives at the federal, state, and local levels are available for “green projects” and “green jobs.” The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “Stimulus Act”) includes billions of dollars to be used for green building, retrofitting, energy efficiency, and renewable energy projects. Additionally, legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would authorize billions of dollars more in tax incentives, such as credits and interest rate subsidies, to help homeowners and businesses retrofit residences and commercial buildings to become more energy efficient. Further, several localities in North Carolina offer building incentives for green projects.
Social Performance of Adopting Green Practices
Legacy to future generations and quality of life are additional motivators for participating in the green building movement. Enhanced occupant comfort and health, aesthetic qualities, and reduction of strain on local infrastructure and natural resources are considered social benefits of building green.
As a precursor to the 39th annual Earth Day in 2009, the National Mall in Washington, DC, hosted Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Representative Edward Markey, and more than 50 organizations (including the USGBC, government agencies, green companies, and foreign embassies) to educate the 100,000-plus crowd about environmental issues and green practices. Today’s economic climate very well may prove to be the instigator of the greatest progress in energy efficiency since the 1970s – just in time for Earth Day’s 40th anniversary.
Green Means Go!
Addressing energy efficiency, pollution prevention, open space, stormwater management, water use, indoor air quality, or transportation needs when deciding to build, buy, lease, or sell a building will leave a green footprint for years to come, whether you are LEED certified or not. Ultimately, reducing energy use in buildings through the use of sustainable practices not only will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also will lower costs and energy demand. As a result, your “green” building well may be an important element in ensuring that your business will be around for many more Earth Days to come.
For further information regarding the issues described above, please contact Amy P. Wang.
