Thanks, Bruce, for the lead on RESNET. I think the energy efficiency
portion of a 'green building' should not be a difficult sell as there
are bookshelves of info on the economics of efficiency. I think a
greater challenge is to convince people about the economics of 'green'
materials and other components of green buildings.
I don't have any data on homes, but in a commercial setting, my
limited experience is that to push the envelope (at least in a tenant
build-out context) you can be pretty green for about 10% extra
compared to conventional materials, energy efficiency included. I
think the economics are easier to argue in a commercial setting, since
by far and away the largest economic flow through a building
(including construction, operations and maintenance costs)--at least
in this country--is salaries for the workers. Granted you run into a
bit of a problem with spec builders, but you can argue that even small
productivity gains from having a better, healthier indoor environment
force would swamp any costs you could incur improving that
environment.
My guess is that some market research would be needed to identify
whether and how much more homeowners would be willing to spend to keep
their kids from being poisoned (providing they can be or are convinced
that this is true in a conventional house--given the crap they clean
them with regularly, I'm not entirely convinced...) and whether or not
this was in line with the costs, margins, etc. of the particular
builder.
Thanks for posting such an interesting an provocative issue.
Rob Watson
Natural Resources Defense Council
1200 New York Ave. NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 289-6868 gen
(202) 289-1060 fax
(202) 289-2364 dir
email: rwatson@nrdc.org
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: GBlist: need info on financial/market benefits of green
Author: Bruce Sullivan <sullivan@crest.org> at INTERNET
Date: 3/3/97 6:03 PM
Laura,
Energy Efficient Mortgages have picked up some momentum -- after
languishing for many years. One reason for this momentum is an
organization called RESNET. They have a great web site and an electronic
newsletter. Check it out at:
http://natresnet.org/
Bruce S
>>What is missing is the financial side. I am not a money man whereas
>>my friend is. He wants to know how integrating these concerns and
>>issues into his projects will benefit him financially. Basically
>>this means doing something like cost-benefit analysis (which I am
>>not comfortable with) on the following types of things:
>>1. dollar returns on using energy efficient materials and techniques
>>2. how to market this kind of development in a "normal" suburb and in an
>>urban setting
>>3. what margins could be charged to buyers to get an eco friendly and
>>healthy house
>>4. what savings can be had in the building process
>>5. other advantages of this type of building (lower water charges, etc.)
>>6. Proven projects where this has helped sell units
>>
>>Its really the hard money analysis that I am lacking and that is what
>>will win the day in this discussion. Can you point me towards
>>articles, studies, journals, documents, etc. which take this approach
>>to convncing developers and builders to move towards green
>>development and design? It would be much appreciated. Thanks, Vince
>>
>>
>>*********************************
>>Vincent Verlaan, M.A.
>>c/o Populi Policy Projects
>>8132 Riel Place
>>Vancouver, BC, Canada V5S 4B3
>>Tel: 1 604 438 7008 or 432 7002
>>Fax: 1 604 438 7009
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bruce Sullivan Tel: 541-484-9353
Iris Communications, Inc. Fax: 541-484-1645
Web: http://oikos.com/ E-mail: iris@oikos.com
------------ 1,700 green building product listings online -------------
__________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by Oikos (www.oikos.com)
and Environmental Building News (www.ebuild.com). For instructions
send e-mail to greenbuilding-request@crest.org.
__________________________________________________________________
--IMA.Boundary.350794758
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; name="RFC822 message headers"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Description: cc:Mail note part
Content-Disposition: inline; filename="RFC822 message headers"
Received: from solstice.crest.org (199.75.171.10) by mail.nrdc.org with SMTP
(IMA Internet Exchange 2.1 Enterprise) id 00006939; Mon, 3 Mar 97 22:14:50
-0500
Received: (from majordom@localhost) by solstice.crest.org (8.8.5/8.7.3) id
UAA28979 for greenbuilding-outgoing; Mon, 3 Mar 1997 20:59:51 -0500 (EST)
X-Authentication-Warning: solstice.crest.org: majordom set sender to
owner-greenbuilding@crest.org using -f
Received: from iceland.it.earthlink.net (iceland-c.it.earthlink.net
[204.119.177.28]) by solstice.crest.org (8.8.5/8.7.3) with ESMTP id UAA28966 for
<greenbuilding@crest.org>; Mon, 3 Mar 1997 20:58:07 -0500 (EST)
Received: from [205.240.25.95] (p2p18.pond.net [205.240.25.95]) by
iceland.it.earthlink.net (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id SAA22017 for
<greenbuilding@crest.org>; Mon, 3 Mar 1997 18:04:01 -0800 (PST)
Message-Id: <199703040204.SAA22017@iceland.it.earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: GBlist: need info on financial/market benefits of green bld
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 97 18:03:56 -0700
x-sender: oikos@earthlink.net
x-mailer: Claris Emailer 1.1
From: Bruce Sullivan <sullivan@crest.org>
To: "Green Building" <greenbuilding@crest.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Sender: owner-greenbuilding@crest.org
Precedence: bulk
--IMA.Boundary.350794758--
__________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by Oikos (www.oikos.com)
and Environmental Building News (www.ebuild.com). For instructions
send e-mail to greenbuilding-request@crest.org.
__________________________________________________________________