Are There Any Risks In Building Green?
By Chris Bacavis – greenbuildingelements.com
In a stark contrast with how construction used to be thought of, the green building movement has been a shift away from the traditional concerns about money and time. The betterment of our planet, as it turns out, is quickly becoming a bigger priority. Since March of this year, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program has seen around 20,852 new LEED registered and certified projects.
Most of this can be attributed to the fact that builders view green buildings as more economical in the long run, and recent incentives on the part of the government have added an extra encouragement. But while these positives have been talked about pretty often, there are some risks associated with going green that still leave many builders wary.
According to the results of a recent forum conducted by the Marsh Green Building Team, the two things that play into builders’ reluctance to construct green projects are still financial concerns and legal concerns. Builders, of course, worry about whether or not green constructions will even endure during this economic downturn. Financially, a number of things can still go wrong. Material prices are always subject to large fluctuations, government incentives can fall through or fail to be secured, and entire projects can have unforeseen delays because of those types of things. Then there are the legal concerns.
The idea of jumping into a supposedly “green-built” project, and then failing to reach LEED certification levels expected by others, is unnerving to think about. There’s also the worry in many constructions that standards of operation and new design features – especially those not covered by the insurance market – will fall short because contractors won’t be willing to take on those things.
As it turns out, there are a number of solutions that can alleviate all these kinds of risks. They include everything from using underwriters to bringing attorneys and contract management services on board who actually have experience in green construction and design. I would encourage everyone in the industry (or even on the outside!) to read Marsh’s report (Green Building: Assessing the Risks) for more detail. It lays out a good case for not putting so much stock in fears toward the green movement. Because while green building is still new in a lot of ways, there are countless solutions that will make every construction more manageable and a lot less unpredictable.
What’s more, if you look at the report’s statistics, it seems pretty clear that the economy actually isn’t a huge risk factor anyway. David Pogue, the National Director of Sustainability for CB Richard Ellis, articulated this well when he recently said, “We are being regularly asked today if the continuing downturn in the economy has reduced the emphasis on sustainability. In many ways, the answer is actually the reverse. At its core, sustainability is about conservation and there is even more reason to conserve today.”
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Laurin,
sorry for being not supportive,
I mean — the idea may be great however if a home buyer cannot see his/her profit in a visible number of years (1−3) paying extra for “green” may be not so attractive and looks like your personal investment into saving the planet.
Try to suggest tax increase explaining that “we will invest money to new technologies that may improve the Earth in any way” — I’m sure everyone supports green environment until he needs to pay for that. Ok, not everyone but most of the people would choose saving their own money instead of saving the planet.
No doubts the idea is very beautiful.
However for me it looks like a religion, not more.
Of course if tomorrow government says “Green buildings permitted only” the builders will have to meet the new requirements since otherwise it will be against the law.
But if people would have a choice… you know what they choose.
It’s my opinion.
Alex,
I know what you are saying, you are just being realistic. It is true, it is hard for most people to justify the extra cost of going green. Look at hybrid cars, you would need to drive one 24,000km for about 13 years to save enough fuel to offset the premium you have to pay to buy one. As much as I would love one, I cannot justify the extra cost up front — I won’t have it long enough for it to matter. And I don’t have enough extra money to waste just to be able to feel good about my car. And there is the matter of advancing technology. What if I wait until next year, or the year after? Will there be better cars for less money? Should I buy one of the latest gas-only cars that gets 6L/km? That would save me more money over a 3-year lease than buying a Prius would.
It is easy to spend $200 on the lastest DVD player, you can replace that in a few years without a second thought. But paying $10,000+ for a solar hot water heater is a different matter. Or $30,000-$60,000 on a hybrid vehicle. What about a small wind turbine in my backyard? Is there a mechanism with the local hydro utility to sell back any excess power?
At least the religion is spreading, it is becoming more mainstream. That is going to get more minds working on it, more people buying it and ultimately, get costs down. The more affordable it is, the more peope adopt. Then we are on our way to something. But the modern enviromental movement has been around since the 1970s. It gained a lot popularity during the oil crises — when it hit people in their pocket books. And recently, when gas got into the $1.40/L range and oil was trading for $155 a barrel, that is when it started to make a major comeback.
It is sad, but you are right, economics has an awful lot to do with it. But we have a great opportunity right now to retool any number of idle factories and get them turning out wind turbines or solar panels, while retraining laid off workers to run them. Create home grown solutions, price them right and let the people decide.
I try to be optimistic, but you are more realistic. Until there is a major shift in prices, there will not be a major change in people’s behaviour.
All the green ideas are total bs pardon my French.
I believe the price is no.1 priority since other factors look artificial and are good when listening radio but not when paying for that.
I mean home buyers not government.
Alex,
How are they all BS? I agree that there are many that are not worth the money and effort, but what is wrong with grey water recycling, solar hot water heating or a wind turbine here and there?
If we all do one little thing, it all adds up to some major changes. Which spurs more changes and more development…
But yes, price is all-important. Until cleaner technologies get to similar price points as current systems, there will be mass adoption of anything.