In this a rebuttal post to The Green Building Adoption Rate is Slow, Find Out The Practical Reasons Why, Richard argues that in fact the growth rate has been very high, citing for example that in late 2010, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) celebrated its first billion square feet of LEED certified green buildings. He makes the argument that the growth rate in the green building space is actually quite high especially considering the background of economic recession and tight capital in which it has occurred.
With LEED certified projects growing in popularity, green can be a major selling point to investors and tenants alike. These initiatives not only offer significant and measurable savings in terms of energy usage, but contribute to the health and well being of the people who live and work in your project, so green messaging is very important.
Despite all the headlines, and a bit of hype, in the world of commercial real estate, the number of green buildings is relatively very small and not growing at a significant rate. Only 2% of all new building construction projects receive LEED certification. Lets look at reasons why building sustainability is stalling and what can be done.
Green buildings provide long-term savings and solid returns on investments. they also command much more than similar non-LEED buildings due to the economic benefits they offer. Soon Class A office buildings that do not attain LEED certification will see their property value decline as LEED becomes the de facto benchmark in measuring quality in construction.
Michael Favicchio tell Tony Brown story on how he transitioned a new university graduate with a degree in English to a green building project manager at Chapman Construction in Newton, MA.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in partnership with the The Princeton Review, recently announced the release of “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 286 Green Colleges.” It is the first, free comprehensive Guidebook solely focused on institutions of higher education who have demonstrated a significant commitment to sustainability in terms of campus initiatives, infrastructure and initiatives.
Green design and construction is a career arena in which there are not an abundance of women being represented, yet we found a number of women working in these sectors and leaving their distinctive mark. Below are profiles of 10 women who we believe are pioneers in the green building and design field.
Has the MUSH market gone cold? This post examines the current and potential market for providing energy management services and building retrofits to municipal (state/local government) facilities, universities, K-12 schools and hospitals. It also looks at some of the ongoing barriers into the MUSH market while highlighting a handful of success stories by sector.
A well-crafted green lease provides an opportunity to improve landlord/tenant collaboration on sustainability issues, leading to increased building performance, including energy efficiency. Green commercial leases provide incentives to reduce energy use and water, and increase recycling and the use of sustainable materials. A green lease detailing the sustainable use of a building by landlord and tenant is critical to the performance of a green building.