Green building does not entail huge costs

Lots of people had qualms of the notion of green building as it was considered to be a project entailing huge amounts of money. But no more. A recently conducted study in New York City by global construction consultants Davis Langdon and the Urban Green Council has made it clear that the whole concept is erroneous and has no relation with the truth.

“I think if you ask the average developer, they would say it [green building] costs more,” said Russell Unger, executive director of the Urban Green Council. The results from “The Cost of Green in NYC” study debunked the cost myth with a comparison of the average cost per square-foot for certified green and non-certified construction.

Throughout entire 2008, data were gathered on 107 projects regarding the five boroughs of New York, 63 of which were either pursuing or had achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, the report said.

In addition, extensive surveys were conducted for buildings with and without sustainability goals. Data points included construction costs, design fees, LEED design fees, LEED additional fees, and commissioning fees. The average square-foot construction cost for a high-rise residential building without LEED certification was $436; while the average cost with certification was $440.

Unger said he was “pleasantly surprised” with this result. Part of the study’s mission was to find out if the sluggish adoption of sustainable building practices in New York City was due to the perception that building green is expensive. It has been found that only in the New York City, nearly 5,000 permits for new construction projects were issued in 2007, said the report. But only around 200 of those projects registered for LEED certification.

“Seventy percent of consumers report they would be more inclined to purchase a green home in a down market,” the report said. The results also showed that 56 percent of construction industry firms anticipate rapid sales and profit growth related to green projects over the next five years.