Green Building is for Conservatives: A Financial Case

Green Building is for Conservatives: A Financial Case

Our buildings are central to our lives, and we put a tremendous amount of our wealth and skills into making them. The modern green building movement is a highly tuned, intensive, and measured approach to building that values efficiency, health and durability.The success of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has not been based on their radical agenda but on the practical results of the types of building they have helped shape. The improvement in productivity in LEED commercial buildings alone can pay for the entire building. These large projects have demonstrated the value gained by investing in green building principles

How Sustainable is “Green Building”?

How Sustainable is “Green Building”?

While the terms green and sustainable are often used interchangeably, not all green building techniques are sustainable. Green building encourages the reduction of harmful impacts that buildings have on the environment and their occupants while focusing on environmental sustainability, but does not necessitate truly sustainable practices. While sustainable strategies stipulate the conservation, or preservation, of resources and require the reconciliation of all economic, social, and environmental demands.
There is a need for the establishment of a framework that encourages economic, social, and environmental sustainability for green buildings.

The Greening of the Office Lease

In order for a commercial office building to achieve the most in terms of sustainability, the landlord and its tenants must partner in working toward that goal. In the case of the landlord and tenant relationship, the governing document is the lease. If the landlord and the tenant agree that the property subject to the lease should be constructed, operated and occupied in a sustainable fashion, that should be reflected in the lease.