Why Green Design?

As an architectural design firm, we have been fortunate over the years to have many clients that wanted high performance, durable, and healthy design solutions. Through our work on multiple LEED Certified projects, EarthCraft Certified Homes, and EarthCraft Light Commercial Certified projects, we have a good gauge of ‘green’ items that add value to a home and offer a positive ROI. It has been shown in our projects multiple times that ‘going green’ cuts costs day one of occupancy of the home or business. However, don’t take my word for it; here are some facts from some well-known sources.

Cut water usage, cut energy usage

• The industry expects that water-efficiency efforts will decrease energy use by 10-11%; operating cost savings of 11-12%; and water reductions of 15% on average . i

Cut costs by not ‘throwing away’

• The EPA estimates that 170 Million tons of building-related construction and demolition (C&D) debris was generated in the U.S. in 2003, with 61% coming from nonresidential and 39% from residential sources .ii

Life Cycle Investment

• An upfront investment of 2% in green building design, on average, results in life cycle savings of 20% of the total construction costs – more than ten times the initial investment .iii

Maximize Investment

• Building sale prices for energy efficient buildings are as much as 10% higher per square foot than conventional buildings .iv

• Real estate and construction professionals overestimate the costs of green building by 300% .v

• Perceived cost benefits of green building according to building owners :vi

 Operating costs decrease 13.6% for new construction and 8.5% for existing building projects

 Building value increases 10.9% new construction and 6.8% existing building projects

 Return on investment improves 9.9% new construction and 19.2% existing building projects

 Occupancy increases 6.4% new construction and 2.5% existing building projects

 Rent increases 6.1% new construction and 1% existing building projects

Cut cost through healthy changes

• An experiment identifies a link between improved lighting design and a 27% reduction in the incidence of headaches, which accounts for 0.7% of overall employee health insurance cost at approximately $35 per employee annually .vii

• People in the U.S. spend about 90% of their time indoors .viii

• EPA studies indicate indoor levels of pollutants may be up to ten times higher than outdoor levels .ix

i McGraw Hill Construction (2010). Green Outlook 2011: Green Trends Driving Growth.

ii U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2009). Estimating 2003 Building-Related Construction and Demolition Materials Amounts.

iii Kats, G. (2003). The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings: A Report to California's Sustainable Building Task Force.

iv Miller, N., Spivey, J. & Florance, A. (2007). Does Green Pay Off?

v World Business Council for Sustainable Development (2008). Energy Efficiency in Buildings.

vi McGraw Hill Construction (2010). Green Outlook 2011: Green Trends Driving Growth.

vii Aaras, A. et al. (1998) Musculoskeletal, Visual and Psychosocial Stress in VDU Operators Before and After Multidisciplinary Ergonomic Interventions. Applied Ergonomics, p. 335-354.

viii Environmental Protection Agency (1987). The Total Exposure Assessment Methodology (TEAM) Study.

ix Environmental Protection Agency (2008). An Introduction to Indoor Air Quality. Accessed via: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html.