Page 178 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

154 INTEGRATED PROJECT MANAGEMENT—COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF GREEN BUILDINGS

currently require some extra maintenance as well as dual-plumbing systems inside of
buildings, a cost not incurred by the simple option of choosing lower-water-using fix-
tures. Over the short run, the efficient fixtures provide the better solution, but these two
approaches are not mutually exclusive and both may remain on the table for further
consideration.

ENERGY AND ATMOSPHERE: CREDIT 1—OPTIMIZE ENERGY
PERFORMANCE
What about energy, which is typically the larger concern in most green building proj-
ects? How do energy conservation and renewable energy options stack up in the EVA
analysis? Let’s look at the first LEED credit for energy conservation and efficiency
measures, worth from two to ten points. In the current LEED-NC 2.2 system, each
new construction project must save at least 14 percent against the ASHRAE 90.1-2004
standard, to meet a prerequisite. Each building renovation must save at least 7 percent
against the same standard to meet the prerequisite. The lower threshold results from
the fact that existing building renovations typically do not change the insulation in the
building walls or roof, even while they might replace older windows with more
energy-conserving fenestration.
Energy efficiency is a big credit in most high-performance projects and no short
analysis will do justice to the complexities involved. In this case, we look at
upgrading the building envelope and lighting systems, as against improving the
efficiency of the HVAC systems and getting daylight into the building (Table 8.6).
Figure 8.5 shows how we can analyze these complex measures with the EVA tool
in the Ecologic3 project management software. The payback period for the envelope

Figure 8.5 Cumulative cash flow EA Credit 1: Optimize Energy. Paul Shahriari,
GreenMind Inc.