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Project Ideation • 81

taBle 5.1
Comparison of Savings by Insulating
Building type new Retrofit
Apartment $132 $425
Unconditioned warehouse $0 $0
Strip-retail $1,077 $1,789
Office $219 $482

used in the calculations—the energy savings. The other two, the inhib-
iting of the smog and the reduction of the Urban Heat Island effect,
were not quantified as far as we can tell. By putting a price tag on the
other two green components, the savings would have been significantly
greater. For a complete picture then, all of the green components should
be quantified.
Please note that all of this analysis did not even take into consider-
ation the intangibles of marketing advantage, employee morale, and the
“right thing to do” aspects of greenality. These may not be visible, and we
acknowledge that they are difficult to measure, but they are very much
present and real.
Whatever the technique used in making decisions, there are a couple
of additional considerations. With every decision there are risks, so a risk
analysis should be conducted to ensure that not only project risks are con-
sidered, but also the likelihood that they will occur and the consequences.
At this stage of the project, it is not a complete risk analysis as that will
come later, but it is a consideration. Sources relative to decision-making
tools can be found in Chapter 13.

validation oF the deCision

A sanity check for both the decision and the decision-making process is
needed. It is a double check to ensure the process used and the decision
made to pursue the project were done objectively. For instance, did we
consider resources with regard to availability and competency, especially
considering the green components of the project? When we considered
SMARTER objectives, does this solution match with the considerations,
particularly the ER? Looking toward sustainability, does this project meet
that objective? Have we evaluated all the alternative project ideas to validate