WHY DO COMPANIES INVEST IN SUSTAINABILITY?

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Green Building, Its Materials, and Ways to Make
it Succeed
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What is a Green Building?

• A structure that is designed, built, renovated,
  operated, or reused in an ecological and
  resource-efficient manner.
• A structure where the qualities of both the
  indoor and outdoor environments have been
  considered and protected during its design,
  construction, maintenance and use.

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Why Green Build?

• Purpose To enhance a buildings overall
  performance while improving comfort indoor air
  energy, water and materials efficiency and the
  bottom line.
• Buildings use or produce
• 30 of total energy use
• 60 of electricity
• Billions of gallons of water daily
• 30 of solid waste generated

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What makes a Building Green?

• It's made with recycled, salvaged or agricultural
  wastes (most commonly crop straws).
• It conserves natural resources because it's
  especially durable or it's made with a rapidly
  renewing material such as bamboo that can be
  harvested every ten years.
• It enhances indoor air quality because it has low
  or no emission of toxic chemicals into the air or
  because it helps block the introduction of indoor
  contaminants such as mold.

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What makes a Building Green Contd

• Its manufacture does not produce toxic emissions.
• It saves energy or water.
• It reduces the environmental impact of the
  construction itself. For example, porous driveway
  paving products absorb a substantial amount of
  the rain that hits them and this reduces the
  amount that runs off into a local and often
  overwhelmed storm water collection system.

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Construction Demolition Debris Recycling

• Scope of the Problem
• 136 million tons of building-related CD debris
  (1996)
• 43 from residential sources, 57
  non-residential
• Demolition 48, renovation 44, construction
  8
• 20 - 30 recovered for processing recycling
• Most often recycled concrete, asphalt, metals,
  wood.
• Deconstruction ? highest diversion rates (76)

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C D Debris Recycling

• Environmental Benefits
• Reuse or recycling (vs. dumping) C D debris
• Saves embodied energy in materials
• ? Demand for virgin resources
• ? Need for limited landfill space

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C D Debris Recycling

• Economic Barriers to Increased Recovery
• Cost of collecting, sorting, and processing
• Contamination of recovered materials
• Value of recycled material vs. cost of virgin
  material
• Low cost of CD debris landfill disposal (tipping
  fees)

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C D Debris Recycling

• Economic Benefits of Debris Recovery
• Cost often ? hauling and dumping as waste
• Daily pick-up by recycling company
• Keeps site cleaner
• ? Work efficiency safety
• ? Compliance with landfill disposal reduction
  ordinances
• Landfill disposal (tipping) fees are increasing
• Revenue from sale of recovered materials

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C D Debris Recycling
Case Study New Construction - Union City, CA

• Development of 95 large, single-family homes
• Builder worked with recycling subcontractor
• 85 of construction waste recovered and recycled
• 1,000 tons of materials diverted from landfill

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C D Debris Recycling
Case Study Demolition, Milwaukee County Stadium

• 2,000 truckloads of recyclable debris
• 30,000 tons of concrete crushed on site
• Crushed concrete used as infill at new stadium
• 2 million budgeted for demolition
• Final cost only 800,000
• Recycling of concrete saved 1.2 million

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Economic Factors

• First Costs/Savings costs and savings from
  incorporating green features into a building
  Life-Cycle Costs/Savings costs/savings over a
  buildings or features useful life
• Relative costs components of a
  commercial building over 30 years
• Design building 2
• Operations, maintenance, finance
• employees 98
• Key point more should be spent on better design

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Economic Factors

• First Costs of green buildings will vary
  significantly depending on the specific project
  goals.
• While there are many significant benefits that
  are no additional cost (e.g, South facing
  windows), some features will cost more in both
  design and materials costs.
• Estimates for additional first cost are as low as
  0-3, for LEEDTM Certified, to 10 or more for
  higher LEEDTM ratings.
• Existing incentives aimed at offsetting
  additional first costs range from 3 (Federal
  Office of General Services and California DGS) to
  6 (NY State tax credit).

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Economic Factors

• Life-Cycle Savings from
• Energy Lighting Efficiency
• Water Efficiency
• Materials Efficiency
• Employee Productivity
• Employee Health
• Construction Debris Recycling

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Employee Productivity

• Green buildings ? worker productivity
• Environmental factors impacting productivity
• Indoor air quality
• Climate control
• Lighting, esp. daylighting
• Biophilic features -- views, plants, etc.

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Employee Productivity
Case Study US Post Office, Reno, NV

• Energy efficient lighting and dropped ceiling
• Cost 300,000
• Energy savings 22,400/year, payback 13 years
• Impact on productivity
• Sorting errors dropped to 0.1
• 8 ? in mail sorted per hour
• Annual productivity gains 400-500K
• Payback period lt 1 year

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Employee Productivity
Example Daylighting Student Performance

• ? Daylighting, windows, skylights
• 15-25 faster progress on math and reading tests
• 7-18 higher test scores
• Students in daylit facility for multiple years
• 14 ? on standardized tests

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Employee Health

• US EPA ranks indoor air quality (IAQ) as one of
  top 5 environmental risks to public health.
• Indoor contamination levels can be 25 times as
  high as outdoors.
• Solutions eliminate sources and increase
  ventilation

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Employee Health

• Factors contributing to poor IAQ
• Inadequate ventilation
• Chemical contaminants from indoor sources
• VOCs, smoke, other toxics
• Sources building materials, cleaning products
• Chemical contaminants from outdoor sources
• Vehicle building exhausts thru vents windows
• Combustion products from garages

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Employee Health

• Factors contributing to poor IAQ
• Biological contaminants
• Bacteria, molds, pollen, viruses
• Inadequate temperature, humidity lighting

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Employee Health

• Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)
• ? Health comfort linked to time in building
• No specific illness or cause identified
• Building Related Illness (BRI)
• Symptoms of diagnosable illness identified,
  (e.g., asthma, upper respiratory infections)
• Directly linked to airborne building contaminants

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Employee Health

• Healthy buildings can ? illness and costs
• Estimated annual productivity ? 30 - 150 billion
• 10 - 30 ? respiratory diseases
• 20 - 50 ? SBS symptoms
• .5 - 5 ? office worker performance
• 17 - 43 billion annual health care savings
• 12 - 125 billion direct ? in worker productivity

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Elements of a Green Building Plan

• Design
• Siting
• Energy Efficiency
• Materials Efficiency
• Water Efficiency

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Design

• Smaller is better Optimize use of interior space
  through careful design so that the overall
  building size--and resource use in constructing
  and operating it--are kept to a minimum.
• Design an energy-efficient building Use high
  levels of insulation, high-performance windows,
  and tight construction. In southern climates,
  choose glazing with low solar heat gain.
• Design buildings to use renewable energy Passive
  solar heating, day lighting, and natural cooling
  can be incorporated cost-effectively into most
  buildings. Also consider solar water heating and
  photovoltaics--or design buildings for future
  solar installations.

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Design

• Optimize material use Minimize waste by
  designing for standard ceiling heights and
  building dimensions. Avoid waste from structural
  over-design (use optimum-value engineering/advance
  d framing). Simplify building geometry.
• Design for durability To spread the
  environmental impacts of building over as long a
  period as possible, the structure must be
  durable. A building with a durable style
  ("timeless architecture") will be more likely to
  realize a long life.

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Design

• Make it easy for occupants to recycle waste Make
  provisions for storage and processing of
  recyclables recycling bins near the kitchen,
  under sink compost receptacles, and the like.
• Design for future reuse and adaptability Make
  the structure adaptable to other uses, and choose
  materials and components that can be reused or
  recycled.

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Siting

• Renovate older buildings Conscientiously
  renovating existing buildings is the most
  sustainable construction.
• Nature Protect trees and topsoil during site
  work Protect trees from damage during
  construction by fencing off the "drip line"
  around them and avoiding major changes to surface
  grade.

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Siting

• Locate buildings to minimize environmental
  impact Cluster buildings or build attached units
  to preserve open space and wildlife habitats,
  avoid especially sensitive areas including
  wetlands, and keep roads and service lines short.
  Leave the most pristine areas untouched, and look
  for areas that have been previously damaged to
  build on.
• Situate buildings to benefit from existing
  vegetation Trees on the east and west sides of a
  building can dramatically reduce cooling loads.
  Hedge rows and shrubbery can block cold winter
  winds or help channel cool summer breezes into
  buildings.

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Siting

• Minimize automobile dependence Locate buildings
  to provide access to public transportation,
  bicycle paths, and walking access to basic
  services. Commuting can also be reduced by
  working at home--consider home office needs with
  layout and wiring.
• Pesticides Avoid use of pesticides and other
  chemicals that may leach into the groundwater
  Look into less toxic termite treatments, and keep
  exposed frost walls free from obstructions to
  discourage insects. When backfilling a foundation
  or grading around a house, do not bury any
  construction debris.

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Energy Efficiency

• Develop strategies to provide natural lighting.
• Install high-efficiency lighting systems with
  advanced lighting controls. Include motion
  sensors tied to dimmable lighting controls. Task
  lighting reduces general overhead light levels.
• Use a properly sized and energy-efficient
  heat/cooling system in conjunction with a
  thermally efficient building shell. Maximize
  light colors for roofing and wall finish
  materials install high R-value wall and ceiling
  insulation and use minimal glass on east and
  west exposures.

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Energy Efficiency

• Minimize the electric loads from lighting,
  equipment, and appliances.
• Consider alternative energy sources such as
  photovoltaics and fuel cells that are now
  available in new products and applications. Renewa
  ble energy sources provide a great symbol of
  emerging technologies for the future.
• Install water-conserving toilets, showerheads,
  and faucet aerators not only reduce water use,
  they also reduce demand on septic systems or
  sewage treatment plants. Reducing hot water use
  also saves energy.

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Energy Efficiency Lighting

• Energy savings up to 80
• Sources of Savings
• Lighting
• Windows
• HVAC Systems
• Efficient lighting better windows can lead to
  smaller and less costly HVAC system

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Energy Efficiency Lighting

• Energy savings from efficient lighting
• Payback period can be lt 2 years
• Average investment return 50-80
• Energy efficient buildings
• Investment return usually 20-40
• Higher property asset value

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Energy Efficiency Lighting
Example US Postal Service, Rodeo, CA

• Total lighting load ? 71
• ? in both ambient and task lighting

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Energy Efficiency Lighting
Example Schools

• Spend more than 6 billion annually on energy
• DOE estimates possible 25 savings through
• Energy efficiency
• Renewable energy technologies
• Improved building design
• Daylit schools vs. non-daylit schools
• 22-64 energy cost reductions
• Payback for new daylit schools lt 3 years
• Increase in student performance

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Materials Efficiency

• Reuse and recycle construction and demolition
  materials.  For example, using inert demolition
  materials as a base course for a parking lot
  keeps materials out of landfills and costs less. 
  
• Require plans for managing materials through
  deconstruction, demolition, and construction. 
• Design with adequate space to facilitate
  recycling collection
• Construct room walls on 4 ft. multiples for
  plywood

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Materials Efficiency

• Efficient use of building materials land
• Environmental benefits
• Saves energy water over life of building
• Use of non-virgin or recycled materials
• ? Depletion of natural resources
• ? Mining manufacturing pollution

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Materials Efficiency
Case Studies

• Emeryville, CA affordable housing development
• Framing at 24 instead of 16
• Significant saving on volume of wood used
• 50,000 sq. ft. school
• Costs of carpet vs. durable floor compared
• Includes installation, maintenance replacement
  costs
• Over 40 years, durable flooring saves 5.4
  million

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Water Efficiency

• Design for dual plumbing to use recycled water
  for toilet flushing or a gray water system that
  recovers rainwater or other non-potable water for
  site irrigation.
• Minimize wastewater by using ultra low-flush
  toilets, low-flow shower heads, and other water
  conserving fixtures.
• Use recirculating systems for centralized hot
  water distribution.
• Install point-of-use hot water heating systems
  for more distant locations.

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Water Efficiency

• Water savings from
• Water-efficient fixtures and appliances
• Water-efficient landscaping
• Rainwater collection systems
• Benefits include
• ? water bills
• ? volumes of wastewater
• ? energy costs for hot water

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Water Efficiency
Example Municipal Plumbing Incentive Programs

• New York City Toilet Rebate Program
• Water demand ? 50-80 million gallons/day
• Wastewater flow ? 7
• 393 million investment
• 605 million saved from deferral of expansion
  projects
• Santa Monica, CA Toilet Replacement Program
• 15 ? in average total water demand
• 20 ? in average total wastewater flow

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Materials

• A green material is one that simultaneously does
  the most with the least, fits most harmoniously
  within ecosystem processes, helps eliminate the
  use of other materials and energy, and
  contributes to the attainment of a service-based
  economy.

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Material Keys

• Choose low-maintenance building materials Where
  possible, select building materials that will
  require little maintenance (painting,
  retreatment, waterproofing, etc.), or whose
  maintenance will have minimal environmental
  impact.
• Buy locally produced building materials
  Transportation is costly in both energy use and
  pollution generation. Look for locally produced
  materials. Local hardwoods, for example, are
  preferable to tropical woods.

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Material Keys

• Use building products made from recycled
  materials Building products made from recycled
  materials reduce solid waste problems, cut energy
  consumption in manufacturing, and save on natural
  resource use.
• Use salvaged building materials when possible
  Reduce landfill pressure and save natural
  resources by using salvaged materials lumber,
  millwork, certain plumbing fixtures, and
  hardware, for example. Make sure these materials
  are safe (test for lead paint and asbestos), and
  don't sacrifice energy efficiency or water
  efficiency by reusing old windows or toilets.

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Material Keys

• Avoid materials that will off gas pollutants
  Solvent-based finishes, adhesives, carpeting,
  particleboard, and many other building products
  release formaldehyde and volatile organic
  compounds (VOCs) into the air.
• These chemicals can affect workers' and
  occupants' health as well as contribute to smog
  and ground-level ozone pollution outside.

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VOCs

• Formaldehyde- Used as a preservative in some
  paints and coatings, as an embalming fluid, and
  as a component of glues and adhesives.
• Solvents- Paint thinner, oil and grease
  dissolvers.
• Pesticides
• Methylene chloride- Used in paint removers,
  furniture strippers, degreasing agents, and
  aerosol propellants.
• Toluene
• Vinyl chloride

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Green Material Benefits

• Reduced maintenance and replacement costs over
  the life of the structure.
• Energy conservation
• Improved occupant health and productivity
• Lower costs with changing space configurations
• Greater design flexibility

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Green Material Criteria

• Resource
• Can be consumed in extraction, production, or
  disposal.
• What kind of energy sources, renewable or not,
  were used in the production?
• Can it be obtained locally?

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Green Material Criteria

• Performance- Same as Resource
• Can be consumed in extraction, production, use,
  or disposal.
• Is it reused or recycled?
• If recycled, is it post consumer or post
  industrial?
• Can it be recycled at the end of its product life?

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Green Material Criteria

• Pollution
• The energy and resources it can save or squander
  doing its use.
• What kind of pollution and waste did its
  production and transport generate?
• How must pollution will its disposal create?
• How much energy was used to produce and transport
  the product and its components?

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Actual Materials - Doors

• Insulated composite doors
• Strong- The extra-wide support rails give the
  strongest structural support. All surfaces are
  bonded with waterproof catalyzed glue.
• Energy efficient- Packed with rigid insulation.
• Perfect fit- trimmed at the job site for a
  perfect fit every time.
• Durable- thick, molded skin with no joints. It
  won't crack, split, separate, shrink, expand,
  rust or dent.

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Actual Materials - Flooring

• Bamboo
• Actually in the "grass" family, not a tree, and
  is one of the fastest growing species on the
  planet. 
• Bamboo rejuvenates quickly, growing to full
  maturity in 5 to 6 years and is truly
  sustainable.
• Very hard, replaces hardwood flooring and uses no
  polymers with VOCs
• Cork
• A renewable resource, cork flooring is
  environmentally friendly and can improve health
  and comfort for your home.
• Cork flooring has anti-microbial properties and
  is resistant to molds, mildews, and common pests.

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Actual Materials - Foundation

• Insulated Concrete Forms
• foam block walls are so well insulated that
  manufacturers predict a home's monthly heating
  and cooling costs can be reduced up to 75
  percent.
• Cement in the foam makes it insect-proof
• Reduces amount of concrete needed.

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Actual Materials - Foundation

• Wood-Fiber Cement Blocks
• hold concrete in place during curing and remain
  in place to provide thermal and sound insulation.
  
• lightweight and are available with mineral fiber
  insulation to provide an energy-efficient, fire
  and termite resistant, and durable structural
  wall system.
• inherently moisture regulating, capable of
  absorbing high levels of moisture in the air
  without damage and dopes not support fungal or
  mold growth.

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Actual Materials - Lumber

• Certified Engineered Wood
• Contains recovered and reused wood in the
  product.
• Used post industry recycled product as well
• Blended Plastic Resin and Sawdust
• Particleboard, fiberboard, and flake board. Many
  of these composites are made from recycled wood.
• A heat-curing adhesive holds the wood components
  together, no VOCs.

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Actual Materials - Roofing

• Green Roofing
• Roofs covered with grass and natural
• habitats like trees and shrubs.
• Soil and plants filter rainwater to make it more
  pure
• Reduces thermal temperatures of building and area
• Solar Roofing Panels
• Uses photovoltaic cells that generate direct
  current, can power household appliances
• Made of no glass, look just like shingles, and
  use no extra materials to secure to roof
• Store energy from sun that can be sold to
  electric companies.

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Actual Materials - Walls

• Paper Crete
• Made with paper, cardboard, sand and Portland
  cement, which are all free except cement.
• Excellent insulator (R 2.8 per inch).
• Very strong and lightweight.
• Polyiso Sheathing
• Rigid closed cell foam insulator.
• Be more energy efficient, insulates whole wall
  and framing
• Protect from moisture and condensation in wall
  cavity
• Very high R rating for insulation, 7.2 per inch

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Steps to Ensure Success

• Establish a vision that embraces sustainable
  principles and develop a clear statement of the
  projects vision, goals, design criteria, and
  priorities.
• Where do you want this product to go?
• Are there certain energy saving costs you want to
  achieve?
• If you had to sacrifice an item in favor of
  another, which would be the ones to go first?

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Steps to Ensure Success

• Remember to develop and research the following
• Siting
• Energy Efficiency
• Materials Efficiency
• Water Efficiency

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Steps to Ensure Success

• Develop a project budget that covers green
  building measures.
• Allocate funding for additional research and
  analysis of specific options
• Make sure enough money is available in case
  something doesnt work
• Try process our before you
• commit a large development
• to them

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Steps to Ensure Success

• Seek sponsorships and grant opportunities
• Talk to local government agencies about
  incentives and assistance for green building
• Look towards the sate and federal government for
  programs who give funding for environmentally
  friendly buildings

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Steps to Ensure Success

• Seek advice of a design professional with green
  building experience
• Talk to professionals in the green building field
• Habitat for Humanity
• Peace Corps

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First Cost Incentives

• Cost/Benefits of Green Building
• Most benefits now accrue to owners tenants
• Green practices sometimes ? cost of building
• State and local policies can
• ? Builder/contractor first costs
• Help builders/contractors share in life-cycle
  savings

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First Cost Incentives

• Local Green Building Incentives
• Expedited (fast track) permit review for local
  building permits environmental features may also
  address larger permit issues .
• ? Inspection fees
• Free professional advice design assistance

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First Cost Incentives

• Other Local Policy Initiatives
• Fees based on estimated energy use
• Adjusted for size of building
• Waived if on-site renewable energy system
  installed
• Standards and regulations
• Bigger the building, more green components
  required
• Minimum recycled content (in concrete, etc.)
  required
• Old-growth wood, high VOC materials prohibited