Page 159 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

GREEN BUILDING COST STUDIES 135

an office building modification (with 307,000 square feet and a construction cost of
$130 per gross square foot). At that time, the study estimated the additional capital
costs of both types of GSA projects ranged from negligible for LEED-certified proj-
ects up to 4 percent for Silver level and 8 percent for Gold level.*

PLATINUM PROJECT PROFILE
Science & Technology Facility at the U.S. Department of Energy’s
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, Colorado
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
is a multi-story facility that houses NREL’s solar and hydrogen research groups.
Designed by SmithGroup and completed in June 2006, the 71,000-square-feet
facility cost $22.7 million. Designed to reduce overall energy use by 40 percent,
the project employs daylighting for 100 percent of the ambient light requirements
in the offices. An energy recovery system is used for ventilation in the labs. Eleven
percent of the materials used are from recycled products, and 27 percent of the con-
struction materials were manufactured within 500 miles of the building site. †

Photography by Bill Timmerman, courtesy of SmithGroup.

*Steven Winter Associates, “GSA LEED Cost Study,” downloadable (578 pages) from the Whole Building
Design Guide web site, www.wbdg.org/ccb/GSAMAN/gsaleed.pdf, accessed March 18, 2007. The authors note:
“The construction cost estimates reflect a number of GSA-specific design features and project assumptions; as
such, the numbers must be used with caution [and] may not be directly transferable to other project types or build-
ing owners” (ibid., at p. 2).
†
NREL, http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2007/507.html; www.nrel.gov/features/07-04_science_tech_facility.
html; www.eurekalert.org/features/doe/2007-04/drel-st040507.php, accessed April 22, 2008.