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Abstract
This paper endeavours to present building owners, managers, architects and design/builders with a compelling business case for considering a green building for their new construction projects. A green building, for the purposes of this paper, refers to any building that meets the high standards set forth in the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System(TM), the pre-eminent metric system by which new buildings are judged to be environmentally conscious. The financial benefits of green buildings are many. They include reduced energy consumption and their associated costs, increased occupant productivity and worker retention, increased market values, and reduced health liability risks due to better indoor air quality. Individual building measures are presented through a tertiary examination of two LEED Certified buildings. These individual benefits are examined further as an integrated building whole, indicating that buildings constructed to LEED standards can save more than 250 per cent of its up-front costs over the course of its 40-year useable life cycle.
Keywords:
LEED, green, environment, sustainability, benefits, costs
INTRODUCTION
US companies are beginning to see that it is time to turn over a new leaf. Companies with environmental positions have realised substantial financial benefits for themselves and, subsequently, for their shareholders. During the five years before August 2001, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index outperformed the Dow Jones Global Index with an annualised return of 15.8 per cent versus 12.5 per cent. The Sustainability Index consists of the top 10 per cent of companies in 68 industry groups in 21 countries that are seen as leaders in environmental development.1
Universal application
Green buildings are enjoying a similar market transformation. They are no longer expensive workplaces for the ultra-environmentalist. They are energy- and resource-efficient offices of Fortune 500 corporate headquarters, architects' offices and government buildings. They are financially responsible spaces of pharmaceutical labs and heavy industry warehouses. They are also performance enhancing facilities for education at every level. They are buildings that are being demanded by savvy owners and operators from every industry in every corner of the country.
LEED 2.0: The industry standard
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the LEED Green Building Rating System from the US Green Building Council, has only been available to the...