BD+C White Paper 2006: Green Buildings and the Bottom Line; The ‘New Reality’ of Green Building From Environmental Cause to Financial Opportunity
Three years ago, when we published our fi rst White Paper on Sustainability,
we could not have predicted with any degree of certainty whether
the green building movement would survive.
We can now safely report that green building is alive and well and active
in virtually every major city in America.
Green building has, however, changed dramatically in recent years. What
started out as a charismatic environmental crusade has matured into an
established sector of the U.S. construction industry.
Green building’s early adherents have proven that they can build highquality,
high-performance structures in a professional, businesslike way.
Their passion has not diminished, but it has become more fi rmly grounded
in the realities of the marketplace.
This “new reality” has begun to attract the attention of the fi nancial community.
Investors are asking: Do green buildings command premium
rents? Do they lease up faster than “conventional” buildings? Are they
more valuable than other real estate investments? What is the market potential
for green buildings in the future?
In the following pages, we will examine the bottom-line issues of green
building across a wide range of building types.
We conclude with 10 constructive recommendations—an “Action Plan”—
for consideration by stakeholders in the green building movement.
