Page 221 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

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DOLLARS AND (COMMON) SENSE:

REALIZING THE VALUE OF GREEN

FOR KEY USERS

COLIN M. COYNE

SUMMARY

In this chapter, Colin Coyne, COO of Melaver, Inc., focuses attention on
a complex redevelopment project in Birmingham, Alabama, highlighting
the need to address the value of green to key constituencies: the tenants
who occupy a green building, the financial institutions that provide fund-
ing, and the community within which a project is located. In the first sec-
tion, Coyne focuses on prospective tenants for the office portion of the
Birmingham Federal Reserve & Tower, making the business case for how
rent in a green building can be viewed as an investment, not simply an
expense. In the second section, Coyne turns his attention to providers of
financial capital—both debt and equity—and how a green building makes
dollars and sense for this stakeholder group. The third section addresses
the community and how sustainable development offers social as well as
financial and environmental benefits to a locale.
Having considered the three main constituencies of any development
project—direct users, financial investors, and citizens of a community—
section four focuses on how all of this makes dollars and sense for the
green developer charged with integrating and addressing all the needs of
various stakeholder groups. Of particular interest here are critical tools

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