How do the costs of a green building compare to that of a traditional building?
With green buildings we are seeing a two to 15 percent increase in upfront costs, depending on the scope of the project. As expected, a building with LEED platinum certification will have increased upfront costs. It is important, however, to look at the whole life cycle costs of the building rather than just upfront costs. For example, we have a client with a 550,000-square-foot building in Indianapolis, and by going in and looking at the operations they saved 20 cents a foot on electrical costs alone. That equates to $110,000 in savings just from becoming more energy efficient. How should a company go about formulating a sustainable real estate strategy? Regardless if you’re going to develop a green building from the ground up or take an existing building through the LEED certification process, it is important to get your team involved at the beginning. The team, which includes a LEED expert, architect, engineer and general contractor, should be assembled at the front end so upfront c
