Page 130 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

RISK MANAGEMENT 107

Figure 6.3 Productivity gains from lighting improvements.
Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, Carnegie Mellon University. EBIDS: Energy Building Investment
Decision Support Tool.
Look at it this way: If a building owner could get a 10 percent improvement in pro-
ductivity from a green building, or about $30 to $60 per square foot increase in annual
output, it would almost always pay for that company to build a new building and have
employees to work there. In other words, the productivity increase could pay for the
entire building! Even a 5 percent improvement in productivity would pay for half or
more of the rent or cost of the new green building. What, then, is the business case for
a “brown building,” a standard building without these benefits?
In 2003, a detailed study of 33 LEED-certified green buildings provided a 20-year
“net present value” calculation for the various categories of green building benefits.* In
that study, productivity and health gains provided more than two-thirds of the total ben-
efits of green buildings in this analysis. Energy and maintenance savings provided an
†
additional 20 percent to 25 percent of total benefits. The concept of using net present
value (the discounted value of all project cash flows) has greatest relevance for long-term
owner-occupiers of buildings, such as government agencies, large corporations, univer-
sities, schools, and nonprofits that are likely to enjoy the full benefits over time.

Risk Management

Consider the possibility that green building certification could provide some measure
of protection against future lawsuits through third-party verification of measures
installed to protect indoor air quality, beyond just meeting code-required minimums.

*Capital E Consultants [online], www.cap-e.com/ewebeditpro/items/O59F3303.ppt#2, accessed March 6, 2007.
† Gregory Kats, “Financial Costs and Benefits of Green Buildings,” [online] www.cap-e.com.