By Lee Allen
Inside Tucson Business
Published on Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Because the concept is somewhat fluid and the definition a bit amorphous, the term ‘green’ is subject to a lot of different interpretations. As a construction color however, green - at least the environmental shade - is red-hot, especially when it comes to providing development advantages in a down marketplace.
"How we build is going to have to change for a variety of familiar reasons, such as dwindling oil reserves and increasing environmental concerns," says developer Michael Keith. "We’re going to have to start building more intelligently than we have up to now, utilizing environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient concepts - aggressive, sustainable, green building."Evidence of that happening is most recently found in the announcement by Pima County that it expects to become the first government agency in the country to provide LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications to homebuilders. LEED for Homes is a nationwide rating system, a tiered certification plan to rate buildings on environmental and energy-efficiency criteria. It’s a formatted system that advocates construction using less water, energy, and resources on one end while creating less waste throughout the process. The county already has a localized standard based on those concepts, but LEED is nationally recognized and adopted by some builders as a marketing tool.
"These are momentous times," says Tucsonan Jerry Yudelson, a former board member of the U.S. Green Building Council who has trained more than 3,500 students in LEED green building assessment. "Everyone wants to enact programs that will help cities and states reduce their carbon footprint. Many studies have shown that green buildings offer the most cost-effective way to carry out these public policy goals."
The New York Times reports: "The real estate industry has recently begun to turn its attention to ‘greening’ existing buildings." There are an estimated 4.5 million
commercial properties erected before green, or sustainable, designs became a hot item. The LEED-EB (existing building) program is picking up momentum because companies, such as CB Richard Ellis and the 100 buildings in their Western division, want that certification in their portfolios.
Earning either LEED or Energy Star accreditation strengthens the business case for green buildings as financially sound investments. Recent research has shown that sustainable green buildings outperformed peer non-green assets in sale price, occupancy and rental rates, "sometimes by wide margins," according to researcher Andrew Burr. "LEED buildings had nearly 4 percent higher occupancy and rent premiums that far exceeded non-LEED peers," he says. "They have lower operating costs and they’re achieving higher sale prices."
Developer Keith says "It’s the direction we’re all headed in." Major jurisdictions in the United States, Canada and Europe are all moving aggressively toward LEED certification, meaning "all of us will have to ramp up quickly." That ramping is already underway according to a recent Cygnus Business Media report that noted, "The LEED system is now in use in more than 14,000 construction projects in 30 countries, including all 50 states."
Not only is compliance going to be mandated by regulation, "A lot of environmental groups are agitating for better building procedures and that advocacy is beginning to be felt in the marketplace. Plus it just makes common sense because LEED-certified buildings are more efficient and economical to operate," Keith says.
"It’s worth all the time, money, and effort," says Tucson architect Dave Burns of Burns Wald-Hopkins whose firm became involved in one of the first LEED pilot projects in the country (and the first in Arizona) eight years ago. "I can’t go a day without seeing or hearing something about green building protocol and while LEED is only one of many certifications available, it is the most complete and comprehensive."
"We’re way past the point in LEED discussion about whether we like it or not," says development manager Margaret Fisher who has imbedded herself in the trenches of the issue. "The vital question is how we respond successfully to the challenge."
Fisher suggests eight tips for getting LEED ready:
• Designate a point person for all
LEED information for your company.
• Honestly evaluate your ability to comply.
• Write an environmental statement.
• Identify how overhead will change.
Time equals money and it takes time
to do a LEED project.
• Track the demand to determine
when to get onboard.
• Review and record materials in advance
• Bookmark websites that are good Internet resources for current information.
• Differentiate your company — how will you
address LEED in a unique way to stand out?
Recent sustainability rankings, based on registered and certified LEED buildings, rank Tucson No. 26 among U.S. cities, ahead of other Arizona cities in the list: Phoenix was No. 28 and Mesa was No. 43.
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