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                      INTEGRATED PROJECT


                      MANAGEMENT—COST/BENEFIT


                      ANALYSIS OF GREEN BUILDINGS                                   *














                      Since 2004, the green building movement has hit its stride. Green building principles
                      have driven massive innovation in product and materials development and building
                      design, and a fundamental change in the process of how buildings are built, called
                      integrated design, has helped builders to deliver on the green promise. Green build-
                      ings are energy efficient, water stingy, filled with daylight and healthy air. As such,
                      they create environments where the building users are healthier and more satisfied,
                      driving productivity gains, higher test scores in schools, lower absenteeism, and higher
                      operational efficiency.
                        So why don’t more people build green buildings? As we have discussed throughout
                      this book, there are three main issues:


                      1 Many owners and designers don’t want to change their current development,
                         design, engineering, and/or construction processes and procedures.
                      2 Many don’t understand the full range of costs and benefits inherent in making the
                         changes required by a commitment to green development, design and construction
                         practices, so they tend to shy away from trying new approaches.
                      3 Many don’t understand the life-cycle cost benefits that result from implementing
                         green building practices within the context of their project requirements.

                        With its widespread impact on the building industry, green building is now entering
                      its posthoneymoon phase. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for a qualitative review
                      of green building benefits to influence owners and developers to blindly accept all
                      green building initiatives. Most project teams face “cost versus benefit” questions for

                      *An original draft of this chapter was contributed by Paul Shahriari, Principal, GreenMind, Inc., www.greenmind.
                      com. Paul is the creator of the Ecologic3 LEED Project Management Software, www.ecologic3.com, accessed
                      July 31, 2008.
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