Green- The Hot Topic in ‘09

Green- The Hot Topic in ‘09

October 13th, 2009 | Author: Guest Blogger

Green is a hot topic. The September 28 issue of Newsweek published a list of the 500 greenest companies in America with Hewlett-Packet listed as number one. Last April, former President Bill Clinton, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) Chief Scientist Amory Lovins, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Empire State Building owner Tony Malkin, declared a very bold plan to reduce the energy use of the Empire State Building by 38 percent, and save $4.4 million annually in the process.

When it comes to conversations regarding green buildings, there are a couple of concerns that are in the foreground for most business owners – do green buildings really increase employee productivity and what is the cost of building (or retrofitting) within green guidelines?

There are a couple of reliable standards to establish the parameters for the green industry: Energy Star label and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. For example, the GSA (Government Services Administration) recently announced that by 2010 all GSA procured buildings will need to fulfill the requirements of the Energy Star label.

The following are the results of a study by the University of San Diego’s Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate and real estate services company CB Richard Ellis. Researchers surveyed 154 buildings with more than 2,000 tenants in 2009. These buildings fit into the green category by either fulfilling the requirements of the Energy Star label or LEED certified. Approximately 534 responses were obtained from the survey.

The majority of the buildings were multi-tenant, 94%. Furthermore, 56% were located in a suburban setting and 56% situated in a business district. The examiners concluded that healthier buildings increase productivity by decreasing sick time and employees were healthier and happier.

The survey concluded that green buildings had:

18% lower employee turnover

22% higher employee morale

23% easier recruiting of employees

24% more effective client meetings

43% agree that employees are more productive

45% fewer sick days

As the researchers concluded, “Green does pay off. Contrary to popular opinion, the green movement is not purely public sector-driven, although we do note a large number of cities now mandating LEED certification for certain sized buildings, usually 50,000 square feet and up by the year 2012.” They affirm that we still face many challenges regarding building green; mostly due to a “lack of planning and developer education,” combined with a lack of knowledge from vendors and city officials.

The bottom line is that if you are either planning a new building or trying to implement some steps to partake in this global effort, you will be making a difference, for your employees and to the world.

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About the Blogger: Vera Angelico, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP is an architect that has been certified by The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™. This is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. She will be on panel at NYEW.