Are green buildings more expensive to construct and operate?
Perhaps surprisingly, good green buildings often cost only a few percentage points or no more to build than conventional designs. Integrated design processes that identify the most efficient, holistic approaches to building green can reduce these initial costs. For example, in some cases, when buildings are carefully designed to be energy efficient, heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) equipment can be downsized for significant savings. There are also many green products and materials that cost the same or even less than conventional ones. The General Services Administration (GSA) did a cost study evaluating the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, estimating the cost to develop “green” federal facilities. The study looks at two types of buildings (a courthouse and office building) and the costs associated with renovating each to the three different LEED levels: gold, silver and certified. More information is available in
