Why Build2Sustain?

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Rich Cartlidge

As many of you may know I am involved with an amazing company Build2Sustain. Today I want to take the opportunity to highlight several of the other members of the advisory board who are excellent resources and will be major players in defining the sustainability movement and the direction it takes heading forward. The first of these individuals is Chris Hill of Construction Law Musings. Chris is one of those rare individuals who is able to envision a project's potential benefits as well as the myriad of potential pitfalls and then convey them to a potential client or third party in manner which makes them easily understandable. It is individuals like Chris who are able to temper the contagious optimism of individuals seeking to construct green projects who will be crucial to the long term success of sustainable design and construction for if we fail to identify the risks and take measures to correct them at at early stage, sustainable buildings will under perform and be riddled with problems that will make them prohibitively expensive over the long run. Hand in hand with the role Chris plays is the equally important role of Gregory Arkin of Revit3D who brings his arsenal of technology to the forefront of the design of the buildings of tomorrow. Gregory has a knowledge of Building Information Management (BIM) which is unrivaled. BIM is a new way of designing and analyzing buildings which allows all the parties involved to make changes to a building's design and instantly see how a change in one area such as in the design of the HVAC system will impact other areas such as the electrical system. By allowing the members of a team to make changes and see how they will impact other areas BIM is reducing the costs of construction and permitting the construction of buildings which are more sustainable and which more closely perform to the expectations of the design team. Build2Sustain will leverage on the vast knowledge which these individuals bring to the table and will become a go to source for those involved in the industry.

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What is the True Cost of Going Green?

Posted on January 10, 2010 by Rich Cartlidge

This past week Elisa Wood of Renewableenergyworld.com wrote a very interesting blog piece focusing on the state of the commercial real estate market and the perceived costs and benefits of green buildings. Ms. Wood focused on what she calls the "ghosts" of green building, the perceived costs of green expenditures which in reality do not actually turn out to be true her post is based on a recent report released by Ceres which can be downloaded here.

The report established the methods by which both direct and indirect property investors can reduce their portfolios energy usage and increase its value:

  • Establish a baseline measuremen tof energy use across portfolios
  • Prioritize opportunities for energy reduction using a sequenced approach from ENERGY STAR that focuses first on the worst- performing properties that provide the lowest-cost, easiest opportunities for cutting energy use. Such sequencing includes:
  • Retro-commissioning buildings, which involves testing building systems to ensure they are operating optimally
  •  Upgrading lighting – Reducing electricity load demand of occupants and equipment – Upgrading and optimizing air distribution systems – Upgrading and optimizing heating and cooling systems
  • Benchmark on a regular basis ongoing energy use against that baseline For indirect property owners who invest in real estate related funds or stock ownership:
  • Seek funds with a specific mission of creating or acquiring energy efficient properties
  • Seek funds with specific goals for energy efficiency improvements in existing holdings
  • Use proxy voting and direct engagement to address energy efficiency with asset managers and public companies

The report contains very interesting material for all involved in the green building industry and is worthy of a quick read. The findings are very encouraging for the future of the industry and show that people are starting to appreciate the benefits that green buildings can provide.

 

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Green Building: What does the future hold?

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Rich Cartlidge

Times are tight, credit is hard to come by, and there is a significant surplus of built residential and commercial property sitting idle. Will the current economy hurt the green building movement or is the industry recession proof as a recent string of articles would like us to believe?

In a March 16th interview with Peter Morris of construction consultancy Davis Langdon, the folks over at Business Week attempted to look into the crystal ball and see what the future holds. The interview raised several interesting issues regarding the value of green building, particularly in light of the current economy and the fallacy of life-cycle cost analysis based on straight line models. As Morris said:

Trying to prove the value of green just on pure economics always seemed to me not necessarily dishonest, but it was like trying to catch people's pocketbooks as opposed to their morality.

Should we reconsider the manner in which we educate the public about green building and its "value"? I think the answer is clearly yes.

One of the biggest obstacles green building has faced has been proving its value in terms of economic benefits to the owner. Many of the early green buildings were unable to live up to their projected cost savings due either to flawed analysis of features cost saving potential or due to improper operation of the building after occupancy.

I propose the following methods to deal with this problem:

  1. Make enhanced commissioning and education of building occupants a prerequisite under green building certification schemes.
  2. Encourage post occupancy efficiency reviews to correct problems with both building systems and occupants habits.
  3. Emphasize that their are benefits to going green which cannot be measured in simple economic terms.
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