Page 123 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

100 THE BUSINESS CASE FOR GREEN BUILDINGS

to talk to architects about the architectural goals that are being sought with this par-
ticular type of façade, presenting alternative means of achieving that same visual
effect without the compromise of energy efficiency and occupant comfort.
I think being willing to listen and understand the issues is very important.
Architects should understand that if they’ve got a good consultant, the consultant
is trying to help them make a good building. The concerns that the good consult-
ant has are legitimate; they’re not just tying to be an impediment. I had an archi-
tect say to me once a long time ago, “I hate engineers because they’re always
telling me what I can’t do.” I thought to myself, “Well if you were able to figure
out the things on your own that you shouldn’t be doing, then engineers wouldn’t
have to tell you that.”

With a common goal of achieving high-performance LEED Gold and Platinum build-
ings, architects, engineers, builders, and developers are working hard to bring costs into
line with benefits, in three specific ways. Chapter 7 shows the many ways in which design
and construction decisions influence the costs of green buildings. Over the next few years,
the green building industry is likely to focus on lowering the cost barrier, in several ways:

■ Working aggressively to lower the costs of building green through accumulating
project experience and strengthening the focus on integrated design approaches that
might lower overall costs.
■ Marrying capital and operating costs by finding ways to finance green building
improvements to reduce or eliminate any first-cost penalty that may occur, using
demand reduction incentives from electric utilities, utility “public purpose” pro-
grams, and local, state, and federal governments to maximize points of leverage.
There are also a growing number of third-party financing sources for onsite gener-
ation (combined heat and power or district heating/cooling) and solar power invest-
ments in large building projects.
■ Review case studies and visit successful projects that have documented the full
range of green building benefits so that building owners with a long-term owner-
ship perspective can be motivated to find the additional funds or create the right
environment for building high-performance buildings.

Ben Weeks of Aardex describes how they justified the extra costs for underfloor air
distribution systems in the Signature Centre project in Denver:

Each design element has many characteristics: first costs, life-cycle costs, training
issues. What is the interface with other design elements? What is the time required
for installation and what are the other time issues associated with it? Are there com-
petition issues such as how many competitors are available to bid for both materi-
als and installation and, what happens if the selected subcontractor goes broke? Do
you have somebody that you replace them with? Is this traditional technology or is
it new or cutting-edge technology? Where are the failure opportunities? We con-
sider each of these for every building component in as “holistic” a fashion as pos-
sible. Once thoroughly vetted for cost and benefit to the project, we adopt those