Re: GBlist: need info on financial/market benefits of green bldg

Tom (loveless@mail.utexas.edu)
Wed, 5 Mar 1997 15:55:32 -0600 (CST)

I believe a strong reason developers/financers do not have an interest in
energy/environmental issues is that the benefit of the investment (for
example, lower
energy costs) accrue to the owner, not to them. Likewise, an owner who might
not be expecting to stay in a house/building for many years might not want to
invest in energy improvements that will be seen by subsequent owners.

I've played around with standard investment equations to come up with the
value of investing in energy efficiency as residual equity in a building over
future years (as a function of annual savings, duration of the measure,
etc.). This is done very commonly for other home investments (I've seen
articles on how much value a new kitchen adds to a house, for example). Why
not have the same for a variety of energy-efficiency measures, again based on
sound economic principles? This type of argument might help convince your
friend. Then again, economic equations are not the kind of thing that
fires everyone's imagination. They might need to be translated into
something more accessible, like graphs of the enhanced equity over future
years.

Ian Shapiro, PE
Director
Taitem Engineering
963 Comfort Road
Spencer, NY 14883
607 277 1118
607 277 2119 FAX

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__________________________________________________________________
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.
__________________________________________________________________