How do the added costs of sustainable development pay for themselves?
According to the US Green Building Council, the average cost premium for building green is between 1-2% of the initial total cost of a new building. The cost premium is higher for retrofitting an existing building. The average payback timeframe is between 12-24 months and the average payback over the lifetime of a green building is 20% of the initial cost of the building. This means the added cost of building green actually produces a windfall for the next 18 years! The cost of inaction could be substantially greater than the cost of action. Look at what happened to the price of gas and how the rush to buy fuel-efficient cars suddenly dropped the GM stock price to $9 which is the lowest in 55 years! The Toyota Prius is selling for $5,000 more than its sticker price. Consequently, if you were to install geothermal equipment or solar panels to help reduce energy cost, it may not make sense today, but may make sense if your utility bill doubles or triples in a few years. Note that the pri
