Page 131 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

110 CHAPTER 4

Following the Money

The money aspect of sustainability is top of everybody’s mind. This is what every-
body wants to know first. Can I afford it? How much does green cost? Does it make
economic sense? What is the value of green? What is the payback? Is it a fad or is
this green stuff here to stay? Why is everybody jumping on the green bandwagon?
Should I?
Aremark often heard these days at conferences devoted to sustainable real estate prac-
tices is that while green has now arrived on Main Street, it hasn’t become mainstream.
Yet. That situation is changing rapidly, with financial considerations serving as the major
driver. If the initial drive for the sustainability movement was initiated by the heart—
a commitment and passion for doing the right thing at all costs—what will keep this
movement sustained over the long haul is the wallet: market demand for green products
and services, financial capital to address those needs, and business models that prove
conclusively that a company not only can do well by doing good, but can do better. 1
My role involves this last function, shaping our company’s green strategy in ways
that assist us to perform better in the marketplace. It is to help the company plan the
resources it needs to reach its goals, track its evolution, keep score, and quickly deter-
mine any necessary changes. It is to challenge or at least question with a skeptical eye
the proposals to make out-of-the-ordinary investments on the front end, monitor per-
formance in real time, make adjustments on the fly, and assess results with hard-nosed
objectivity on the back end. Yes, I’ve heard the unkind joke: finance people know the
price of everything and the value of nothing. But if the business case for sustainabil-
ity is to gain widespread traction, it has to pass muster with people like myself.

What Does It Cost to Become

a Green Company?

Does it cost more to build green? Our basic response to this question, which may seem
contrarian or off-putting, is one almost no one seems to consider: “More versus
what?” There is no such thing as an absolute standard for building. A developer may
choose to capture the rainwater on the roof and reuse it in the irrigation system instead
of placing marble columns in the foyer. A company may decide to put in a more effi-
cient HVAC system rather than fancy finishes in common areas. It can be somewhat
difficult to answer this comparative question with a simple yes-or-no answer along
with a percentage figure.
The answer also depends on how green a developer wants its project to be, what
level of green certification is being sought, what aspects of an overall green program
a developer wishes to emphasize, and how experienced the developer is with sustain-
able development practices. As a basic rule of thumb, our own experience, borne
out by data provided by the U.S. Green Building Council, is that to achieve a LEED