The Cost of Green Buildings

Does a green building cost less to create and maintain than a conventional building? The General Services Administration (GSA) says yes.

An in-depth study of 22 green federal buildings across the U.S. showed that on average, the representative buildings chosen from GSA’s portfolio regularly outperformed national averages of building performance data. These buildings use less energy and water and cost less to maintain, as well as emit less carbon dioxide and have more satisfied occupants than conventionally designed buildings.
 But is this true for private sector facilities? The gap between the costs of green vs. non-green has certainly narrowed considerably, but has that gap closed yet? Building professionals weigh in on creating, remodeling, and maintaining green facilities.

Green Building Performance
The study, Green Building Performance: A Post Occupancy Evaluation of 22 GSA Buildings, compares each building’s energy use intensity, energy cost, carbon dioxide emissions, maintenance costs, water use, and occupant satisfaction against widely accepted industry and GSA baselines. Sixteen of the buildings were LEED-NC certified or registered, with the remaining six meeting the requirements of other sustainable building programs, including ENERGY STAR and the California Title 24 Energy Standard.

Three of the five LEED Gold buildings performed better than industry baselines, but the other two – a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) facility in Omaha, NE, and the Census Bureau office complex in Suitland, MD – earned unexpectedly low scores in some areas.

The DHS building bested the industry baseline scores in all categories except water use, which not only exceeded the national average but was also much higher than when the building was previously assessed. This raised suspicion about leaks, unexpected use, and other concerns, but the GSA ultimately realized the spike was due to a shift in occupancy as the 10,000 square feet of space left vacant when the building opened was filled, according to Eleni Reed, chief greening officer for GSA’s Public Buildings Service.

The Suitland facility earned low scores in three of the eight categories, but further investigation revealed that its size and densely populated spaces contributed to its scores relative to the industry average. Building occupants were intensely focused on the 2010 Census when the building study was conducted, Reed notes, adding that buildings of this size are uncommon and are likely not represented in the industry averages that the study compared with GSA’s 22-building sample. The unexpected results underscore the status of cost-comparable green building as a moving target and the importance about indexing occupants and building use to put findings into context.

via: buildings.com