Building the Green Way

BY SUZIE GUTHRIDGE

Green is rapidly going mainstream, because companies as diverse Genzyme, Goldman Sachs, Hearst, IBM, JP Morgan Chase, and Toyota have moved into green workplaces, according to "Building the Green Way" by Charles Lockwood in the June 2006 issue of the Harvard Business Review. Leading law firms and professional firms are now demanding green buildings for their offices. Even macho-icon Harley Davidson has an energy-saving green Product Development Center.

The Green Tipping Point
This article discusses several factors that have pushed green to the tipping point:

• First, the creation of reliable building-rating and performance measurement systems for new construction and renovations, like the U.S. Green Building Council's rigorous LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating program.
• Second, hundreds of studies have proven the financial advantages of going green, from reduced construction costs to lower operating costs.
• Third, employers have experienced significant workforce benefits in green buildings, including stronger employee attraction and retention, as well as fewer illnesses and lower absenteeism, which reduces health care costs. In particular, green buildings can boost employee productivity by approximately 15%.
• Finally, green buildings today cost no more to construct than standard buildings thanks to lower materials and technologies costs, much greater availability of green building products, and greater real estate industry experience in planning and constructing green buildings.

The Green Energy Solution
With gasoline prices soaring past $3 a gallon in many locations, everyone is talking about fuel-efficient cars, but no one is talking about our energy-guzzling buildings. In the U.S., buildings account for 39% of the nation's total annual energy consumption, whereas transportation (including cars) comprises only 27% of our total energy use, according to Federal government statistics.

"Building the Green Way" discusses a proven strategy for reducing U.S. energy consumption: green buildings, which significantly lower energy consumption and costs compared to standard buildings. In its first year of operation, for example, Genzyme's green 12-story headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts used 42% less energy than standard buildings of comparable size.

Get Ready For Massive Obsolescence
Hundreds of billions of dollars of the world's commercial real estate will soon become obsolete and decline in value, say Lockwood, because tenants increasingly prefer green workplaces to standard (non-green) buildings. "The owners of standard buildings must act now to protect their investments by reviewing their portfolios to see how green their buildings are, identifying what they need to do to meet growing market demand, and undertaking green renovations of their existing facilities," he says.

"Building the Green Way" provides ten rules that companies should follow to construct a new green workplace -- or turn an existing building green -- on a standard budget.

Rule 1: Focus on the Big Picture
All development decisions from the start must be guided by a green mind-set. A collaborative green project team begins by examining the building site, the plans for the exterior and the interior, and the budget, thus managing up front how each planning decision affects the overall project.

Rule 2: Choose a Sustainable Site
Do not build on prime farmland, parkland, a historic or prehistoric site, the habitat of an endangered species, or within 100 feet of wetlands. Ideal locations for green development include in-fill properties like parking lots and vacant lots, redevelopment sites like rail yards, and remediated brownfields.

Rule 3: Do the Math
Apply a cost/benefit analysis to each building component before allocating funding. A green (landscaped) roof costs more than a standard roof to install, for example, but its return on investment is greater because it lasts years longer and provides more benefits, particularly stormwater management and lower energy costs.

Rule 4: Make the Site Plan Work for You
Site planning can minimize the amount of on-site infrastructure like roads and parking lots, reduce earthwork and grading, and provide easy access to public transportation -- all of which lowers construction costs and earns LEED. Building orientation, can reap significant benefits, like creating a daylit interior that needs much less artificial lighting.

Rule 5: Landscape for Savings
Landscaping minimizes heat islands -- the build-up of heat from sunlight pouring onto dark, nonreflective surfaces -- which lowers energy usage and costs. Landscape strategies include (1) green screens on building walls, (2) mature trees shading building walls, roads, and parking areas, and (3) a green roof, which reduces interior heat gain (lowering air conditioning requirements), cleans the air, serves as wildlife habitat, and absorbs rain.

Rule 6: Design for Greater Green
Companies can use a wide variety of strategies to cost-effectively design a green building. A long and narrow building shape, for example, maximizes natural lighting and ventilation for workers. Operable windows and skylights enable natural ventilation. Windows with low-E (low-emission) glazing minimize interior solar heat gain and glare.

Rule 7: Take Advantage of Technology
Green building technologies like motion-sensitive lighting sensors, individual climate controls in offices and at workstations, and highly efficient HVAC systems help conserve energy. Green facilities can also produce some of their own electricity with alternative technologies, like photovoltaic systems, wind turbines, and natural gas microturbines.

Rule 8: Save and Manage Water
To save water, firms can install water-conserving irrigation systems and plumbing, waterless urinals (which are more sanitary than standard ones), and native and drought-tolerant landscape plants, and they can use recycled (not potable) water for landscape irrigation. Green stormwater management strategies include bioswales (shallow "canals" lined with plants), green roofs, and man-made retention ponds and wetlands.

Rule 9: Use Alternative Materials
Many types of sustainable, nontoxic building materials are now readily available at mainstream prices, including low- and zero-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints, strawboard made from wheat (rather than formaldehyde-laced particle board), linoleum flooring made from jute and linseed oil (rather than toxin-packed standard vinyl), 100% recycled carpeting and heavy steel, and furniture with significant recycled content.

Rule 10: Construct Green
How you build is just as important as where and what you build. Achieving a superior indoor air quality, for example, starts during the construction process by coordinating wet and dry activities to avoid contaminating dry materials with moisture and making them breeding grounds for mold or bacteria. Recycling construction waste is also part of the green process that helps lower the project budget and protect the environment.

Our Green Future
"The green future is here," says Lockwood in his article. "Like the dramatic, occasionally unsettling, and ultimately beneficial transformations wrought by the introduction of electric lights, telephones, elevators, and air-conditioning, green building principles are changing how we construct and use our workplaces, as well as our homes, schools, stores, medical facilities, and civic and cultural institutions."
Armed with the ten rules in "Building the Green Way," corporations no longer have an excuse for eschewing sustainability -- they have tools that are proven to lower overhead costs, improve productivity, and strengthen the bottom line.