CoStar Group Demand in Marketplace for Sustainability Creates Higher Occupancy Rates, Stronger Rents and Sale Prices in 'Green' Buildings

March 26, 2008 - CoStar Study Finds Energy Star, LEED Bldgs. Outperform Peers

A new study by CoStar Group has found that sustainable "green" buildings outperform their non-green peer assets in key areas such as occupancy, sale price and rental rates, sometimes by wide margins.

The results indicate a broader demand by property investors and tenants for buildings that have earned either LEED® certification or the Energy Star® label and strengthen the "business case" for green buildings, which proponents have increasingly cast as financially sound investments.

According to the CoStar study, LEED buildings command rent premiums of $11.33 per square foot over their non-LEED peers and have 4.1 percent higher occupancy. Rental rates in Energy Star buildings represent a $2.40 per square foot premium over comparable non-Energy Star buildings and have 3.6 percent higher occupancy.

USGBC In The News

NAHB Green Building Guidelines

ORLANDO, FL--The new National Green Building Standard will maintain the flexibility of green building practices while providing a common national benchmark for builders, remodelers and developers - another big step for the green building movement, said panelists at a news conference at the International Builder's Show.

The first and only true consensus-based standard for residential green building is in its final comment period and almost ready for prime time, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The National Green Building Standard is expected to be approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and published by NAHB and the International Code Council (ICC) early this spring, a panel of builders and those involved in the standards process told reporters. The ANSI process
ensures that the best technical reviews were used to create the standard.

NAHB Green Building Standards

www.climate.yale.edu/seeforyourself/index.php

YALE University - 2007

The average surface temperature of the world rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit during the last century. The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts a further increase of 2 to 6 degrees in this century, even if greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are stabilized at twice the pre-industrial level. This warming would be accompanied by rising sea levels, more intense storms and droughts, heat waves, melting glaciers and other effects. , the potential cost of such policies to the American economy again becomes a critical issue.

Robert Repetto has developed a website where users can test various assumptions and scenarios for the effects of global warming.

See for yourself!

Benchmarking Sustainability 2007 Awards-RainTube
Photo Credit: Jacob Feldman

GREENBUILD, Chicago - November 7, 2007. Green Building Pages announced the Benchmarking Sustainability 2007 Building Product Awards recognizing products and manufacturers for achievements in minimizing global environmental impacts creating a more sustainable building industry and world.

Twenty building products were recognized in 7 product lifecycle award categories. GLI Systems RainTube received the highest Sustainable Product Award achieving 554/800 Benchmarking Sustainability credits, also receiving the first Gold Shade of Green designation.

View all Benchmarking Sustainability 2007 Product Awards

U.S. Green Building Council Greenbuild 365 Website

GREENBUILD, Chicago - November 2007. With record numbers in attendance and distinguished dignataries such as former President Bill Clinton and visionary Paul Hawkin addressing the green building industry, green is clearly mainstream. The USGBC officially launched its LEED for Homes certification program, announced its 'No Child Left Behind' support for the new Green Schools Caucus and unveiled its new website Greenbuild 365, making conference proceedings, including keynote speeches available to the public.

The Playbook, another website unveiled at Greenbuild, provides strategies, tips, and tools that cities and counties can use to take immediate action on climate change through green building, green neighborhoods, and sustainable infrastructure.

For more information visit: www.usgbc.org

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, Washington, D.C. September, 2007. Estimating the carbon footprint of commercial buildings has just become easier. EPA's on-line energy rating system for commercial buildings has been updated to include greenhouse gas emission factors, enabling users to estimate the carbon footprint of their commercial buildings. The updated rating-system (Portfolio Manager) shows that ENERGY STAR buildings not only use 35% less energy than their typical counterparts but also contribute 35% less carbon dioxide emissions.

For more information:
• EPA Press Release
• More information on Portfolio Manager

U.S. Green Building Council
Photo Credit: U.S. Green Building Council

As of January 1, 2007, USGBC will fully rebate the certification fees for any project that earns LEED Platinum certification. The rebate currently applies to projects that certify using LEED for New Construction, LEED for Existing Buildings, LEED for Commercial Interiors or LEED for Core and Shell. Projects that certify under future versions of the LEED rating system (excluding pilot projects) will also be eligible.

LEED Platinum buildings are highly energy and resource efficient; provide superior indoor comfort for the building's occupants; and dramatically reduce CO2 emissions.

For more information on LEED rebates visit:
www.usgbc.org

Buying Into the Green Movement
Alex Williams
New York Times, July 1, 2007

Some 35 million Americans regularly buy products that claim to be earth-friendly, according to one report, everything from organic beeswax lipstick from the west Zambian rain forest to Toyota Priuses. With baby steps, more and more shoppers browse among the 60,000 products available under Home Depot's new Eco Options program.

Such choices are rendered fashionable as celebrities worried about global warming appear on the cover of Vanity Fair's "green issue," and pop stars like Kelly Clarkson and Lenny Kravitz prepare to be headline acts on July 7 at the Live Earth concerts at sites around the world.

Consumers have embraced living green, and for the most part the mainstream green movement has embraced green consumerism. But even at this moment of high visibility and impact for environmental activists, a splinter wing of the movement has begun to critique what is sometimes calls "light greens."

Read the full New York Times article

Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy

Are you aware of the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE) website? This is a great resource describing federal, state, and local incentives applying to commercial, utility and residential categories. Check to make sure you are taking advantage of all of the incentives available to you and increase your energy efficiency!

A Greener and Healthier Future for California Schools
Ariel Dekovic
Green Technology Magazine

Created in 1999 in response to skyrocketing energy rates and rolling blackouts, the Collaborative for High Performance Schools has since expanded beyond energy efficiency to address an array of issues that make up healthy and environmentally conscious school environments. Involving a diverse group of 150 government agencies, utility companies, school districts, non-profit organizations and private companies, as well as seven other states, in 2002, CHPS published the CHPS Criteria, establishing the nation's first building rating program created to specifically facilitate the design of school learning environments that are healthy, comfortable, energy, resource and water efficient, safe, secure, adaptable, and easy to operate and maintain.

CHPS has a six volume Best Practices Manual that supports the CHPS Criteria as well as a recently introduced new third-party verification program, called CHPS Verified, which adds project management and an independent review to the process.

These days, convincing school boards and facilities managers of the benefits of green schools is not hard. In his "Greening America's Schools" report, Greg Katz found that although the average cost premium was about per square foot, the total energy cost savings from a green school as compared with a conventional school ranged from $7 to $9 per square foot.

Read the full Green Technology article

Davis Langdon, July 2007

The Cost of Green Revisited examines the recent developments in the cost of incorporating sustainable design features into projects, building upon the 2004 report "Costing Green: A Comprehensive Cost Database and Budget Methodology." This paper looks at a larger sampling of buildings and building types, using the USGBC's LEED rating system as a parameter for determining level of sustainable design. The study shows that there is no significant difference in average costs of green buildings as compared to non-green buildings.

View full report: (0.5 MB PDF)

Time Magazine, June 14, 2007

The New Action Heroes - TIME Magazine

Mayors of more than 30 of world's largest cities pledge "to enlist their 250 million constituents in the fight against global warming." "Cities can't wait any longer for national governments to act," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced, highlighting his plan to cut New York's carbon emissions 30% by 2030. Meanwhile on the other coast, Governor Schwarzenegger, leading California's 36.5 million people, has signed the first U.S. cap on greenhouse gases, leading the nation in enacting fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.

To read entire article go to:
www.time.com

U.S. Green Building Council
Photo Credit: U.S. Green Building Council

The U.S. Green Building Council is will announce the selection of 120 participants for the pilot program of the LEED for Neighborhood Developments (LEED-ND) rating system from 370 applications received. LEED-ND was created through collaboration between USGBC, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU). A final rating system is expected to be launched in 2009, after the conclusion of the pilot program in 2008.

For more information on LEED-ND please visit:
(www.usgbc.org/leed/nd)
(www.nrdc.org/smartgrowth)
(www.cnu.org/initiatives)

iiSBE Sustainable Building Challenge for 2007-2008

(USGBC, May 7, 2007) - Call for Expressions of Interest closes on September 15, 2007! "The Sustainable Building Challenge is a process that forms an integral part of the Sixth World Sustainable Building Conference (SB08), which is to be held in Melbourne Australia in September 2008 (www.sb08melbourne.org). The SB08 conference will include oral presentatons and display space for assessed case studies, in addition to normal technical paper presentations. The SBC08Challenge will enhance the development of an international co-operative process to compare existing performance assessment tools, guide the development of new ones, and promote innovative sustainable builing design concepts and techniques."

To read the full announcement please visit: (www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=2686)

(Building.com, May 4, 2007) - Wachovia and Bank of America's Charlotte banks are seeking green building status for new construction projects and are greening existing buildings to gain certification as environmentally freindly. "While companies and building managers say they are striving to do the right thing for the environment, they also see business advantages, such as energy savings and improved employee productivity."

To read the full article please visit: (www.buildings.com/Articles/detail2.asp?ArticleID=101267)

Healthy Building Network,
Photo Credit: The State Journal-Register

(March 23, 2007) - the federal Chemical Safety Board (CSB) found vinyl chloride killed 5 workers for a Formosa Plastics PVC factory in Illiopolis, Illinois. Workers were killed by an explosion set by a discharge of the substance on April 23, 2004. Healthy Building News points out the significance of the findings due to the recent release of the "USGBC Technical Science Advisory Committee determined that the PVC was one of the most unhealthy building materials..."

To read the full article please visit: (www.healthybuilding.net/news)

New York Times, March 14, 2007
Photo Credit: Chris Pilaro

Communities Uniting for Climate Action Now!
Let April 14th, 2007 be an inspiration for you and your community to call for action on climate change. Bill McKibben invites communities to join his nationwide movement to "reshape the future" by cutting carbon 80% by 2050. (www.stepitup2007.org)

Visit the Step It Up website and join an action or start your own call for action. The Step It Up Headquarters documents actions nationwide stating the same quote "Step it up, Congress! Cut Carbon 80% by 2050."

Visit the website www.stepitup2007.org for more information.

Photo credit: Peter Aaron / Esto Photographics

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected the top ten examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions that protect and enhance the environment. The projects will be honored on May 3rd at the AIA 2007 National Convention and Design Exposition in San Antonio.

For more information: AIA/COTE

EPA Announces new building industry challenge
Credit:http://www.lifecyclebuilding.org/entry-info.htm

The Building Materials Reuse Association, the American Institute of Architects and West Coast Green partner with EPA to challenge the building industry to facilitate reuse and reduction of waste

"The purpose of the Challenge is to change how people think about, design, and construct and deconstruct buildings. By contributing to a library of strategies that maximize materials recovery and reduce environmental and economic costs, contestants can advance building industry lifecycle planning, inspiring the green building movement to look beyond a single iteration of a building. Because buildings take a major toll on the environment, the Challenge calls upon its contestants to address real world issues." (www.lifecyclebuilding.org)

Applicants must register by April 15th, 2007. Please visit the challenge website: www.lifecyclebuilding.org

California Green Building Initiative (Executive Order S-20-04) creates goals for reducing energy consumption

California Adopts LCCA Model for Green Products

"The Governor's Green Building Initiative (Executive Order S-20-04) requires that the state of California implement all cost effective energy conservation measures (ECM) as identified to achieve the goal of reducing energy consumption 20 percent by the year 2015."

For more information:
www.green.ca.gov/LCCA/default.htm

For more information on measures for greening the golden state, attend the upcoming Green California Summit, March 13 & 14, 2007. "The Green California Summit and Exposition was created to support efforts made by state and local government to implement to implement effective and innovative services, products and solutions."

NAHB & ICC announce collaboration for green building standards

NAHB & ICC Opens Application Process for Consensus Committee Membership

ORLANDO, FL. (February 7, 2007) - In order to advance the Green Home Building Guidelines voluntary program set forth by the NAHB, the NAHB & ICC groups announced a joint collaboration to standardize green building practices. A Consensus Committee is forming for further development of these guidelines into the ANSI green building standards.

Applications for consideration are due by March 10, 2007. Please visit the NAHB website www.nahbrc.org/GBStandard

Ecological literacy must become a central tenet of design education.

2010 Imperative offers actions for public and private sectors

People from all over the world logged into the 2010 Imperative Web-cast on Friday, February 20, 2007. Susan Szenasy, Dr. James Hansen, Edward Mazria, Chris Luebkeman spoke addressed the urgency to take action on global warming.

To listen to the archived web-cast:
www.2010imperative.org/webcast.html

For more information on the 2010 Imperative and 2030 Challenge, read the interview with Edward Mazria, AIA, founder of the Architecture 2030: Edward Mazria, AIA

GBI becomes first to develop LCA for public

GBI makes LCA software available to public

PORTLAND, OR.(February 27, 2007) - "Last month, the Green Building Initiative (GBI) became the first organization in North America to develop a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool for integrating the evaluation of building assemblies in green building rating systems. Today, GBI is announcing its intention to grant permission to its consulting team to offer a generic version, free of charge, to the entire sustainable construction community." Green Building Initiative Press Release

For more information:
www.thegbi.org/gbi/news_022607_LCATool.asp

Kennedy Family downsized to a green 2,400-square-foot custom home.
Photo Credit: CNNMoney.com

4 families 'Go Green': how these homeowners got a little more eco-friendly

Downsizing their energy bills, improving their air quailty, and protecting the planet are just a few of the reasons these families went 'Green'.

Read on to see if going green would work for you: Your Home: Is 'going green' worth the cost? (Money Magazine)

The USGBC, in response to the current global climate change urgency, developed a Climate Change Action Plan to reduce the organizations negative contribution. The plan incorporates eight strategies to focus their impact on the environment. By the end of 2007 the USGBC, as an organization, will be carbon neutral. The USGBC hosted Greenbuild Expo and Conference just completed it's fifth year of carbon neutrality.

"Eliminating the built environment's negative contribtuion to climate change is not just a strategic priority; it's our collective responsibility to generations to come...urgent action is required." USGBC Press Release, December 1, 2006

For more information please visit the USGBC press release: http://www.usgbc.org/News/

"We are in a race against time. Global warming, caused by a man-made blanket of greenhouse gasses (mainly carbon dioxide) that surrounds the earth and traps in heat, is well underway and if allowed to intensify over the coming years will seriously threaten our planet" (Edward Mazria AIA).

Specially created Architecture 2030 "web site will report on the activities and progress in the building sector around the globe and critical information will be updated regularly" (AIArchitect).

Executive Order 13423.

President Bush signed an executive order on January 24th that mandates an increased use of energy efficiency and renewable fuels throughout the federal government. Executive Order 13423 calls for federal agencies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by cutting their energy intensity 30 percent, relative to their energy use in 2003, by 2015.(Executive Order 13423)

Visit the U.S. Department of Energy Daily News Archives for more information: (January 31, 2007)

Green labeling is a major marketing tool in the timber industry. It allows companies to reach a bigger marketplace while assuring increasingly sophisticated consumers that their purchases are not harming the environment. The competing certification regimes are usually referred to by initialisms -- SFI and FSC -- that can be easily confused. Unlike the industry-created SFI program, FSC rules allow virtually no cutting of old-growth forests, nor do they allow operators to log off a diverse stand of trees and replace it with a plantation forest dominated by a single species, which is often done to enhance the commercial value of forestland. Home Depot, Ikea and Williams-Sonoma are among the major retailers that have announced their preference for FSC-certified lumber or paper. The U.S. Green Building Council, which oversees green standards for construction in the District and Montgomery County, among other places, credits only builders that use FSC lumber.

FSC is the world's fastest growing forest certification scheme. Over the last year it increased by one third. In comparison, PEFC grew by 5% over the same period of time. In real numbers this equals a growth of 20 million hectares for FSC and 10 million hectares for PEFC" (FSC News).

• Robert F. Fox, Jr., AIA – Partner, Cook + Fox Architects LLP (U.S. Green Building Council member), designer of the new Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, New York City
• Helen English – Executive Director, Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC)
• Claire Barnett – Executive Director, Healthy Schools Network and Coordinator, Coalition for Healthier Schools

The AIA Chicago Young Architect's Forum announced winners for its reThink/reDesign/reCycle, a two-phase juried competition that saught proposals for an ecologically intelligent, urban recycling receptacle.

http://www.aiachicago.org/redesign/