Measuring Sustainable Development: An Initial Investigation
John Goering, Ph.D.CUNY: Baruch College and the Graduate Centerand
Alice CookDirector of SustainabilityTime Equities Inc
Presented at the APPAM - KDI Conference “Environmental Policy & Teaching”Seoul, South KoreaJune 13, 2009
Outline of Presentation
Brief case studies of new and existing buildings: differing goals for `Green’ development
Assess current research evidence on costs & outcomes
Outline constraints on further green building
Alternative US `Green’ Rating Formats
Energy Star: US Department of the Environment (1992)
LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Certification: US Green Building Council (1998 -)
NAHB: Green Home Bldg. Guidelines (single family; 2005)
Ad Hoc: case specific- no rating
Case Study 1: The Durst Organization’s Bank of America Building
Durst Organization began:1915 4 green buildings; “The most environmentally
responsible building ever.” 2.1 million square feet co-built with BofA Class A office LEED Platinum; almost fully
built & occupied: $175 sq ft rents Goal: Reduce water & energy consumption:
50%
Case 2: Time Equities: Existing Buildings
Focus on global warming and long-term plan for converting stock
Created Director of Sustainability office: 2007 Initial energy audits – building mod plans Capital commitment + incentives Register LEED Portfolio Require 2-year payback
Electricity Consumption
320,000
370,000
420,000
470,000
520,000
570,000
620,000
670,000
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
month in year
mon
thly
ele
ctric
ity u
se (k
wh)
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
4200 St Laurent
Case 3: Building Affordably & Sustainably
Affordable housing developers &
multiple layers of uncertain financing Focus on green building before LEED Use of low-cost brownfield sites Focus on energy savings for tenants/owners South Bronx cases: Non-profit: WHEDCo; For-profit:
Jonathan Rose
SHADES OF GREEN
Urban Horizons II• 128 units• One-, two- and three-bedrooms• Affordable to families making 60% of area median income• 30% of units for formerly homeless families• Commercial storefronts along first floor• 37 underground parking spaces
“Foyer” Building• 46 units• Studios for young adults aging out of foster care.• On-site vocational, educational, and training programs• On-site case management and 24/7 security
Source: Edelman Sultan Knox & Wood Architects
WHEDCo’s “Saving Urban Horizons”Goal: Well maintained and affordable
Energy Upgrades (opened 1997)
•Low-flow shower heads & faucet
•Motion-sensitive lighting
•LED exit signs
•Weather-stripped entrances
Planned (unfunded):
Energy Star refrigerators •CFL bulbs
•Photovoltaic roof panels •Green roof
NY Urban Horizons Utility CostsActual Costs with Energy Savings
$180,242 $189,254 $198,717
$244,481 $258,699
$311,653
$171,659
$373,088
$0
$50,000
$100,000
$150,000
$200,000
$250,000
$300,000
$350,000
$400,000
2003 2004 2005 2006
Actual Costs
Projected
Evaluation Measurement Issues
No independent evaluations of full set of costs and benefits
Limited cost & return data; small sample sizes
Difficult to obtain data on effective rents & concessions
Hard to get long-term data on productivity & health impacts of ratings
2008-2009 research results disagree on core findings
Research on Economic Impacts of LEED and Energy Star Rated US Office Buildings
Miller, Spivey, Florance (2008) Eichholitz, Kok and Quigley (2009)
Ratings/Measure Descriptive - Regression Hedonic regression
LEED
Rent gain 36% ($11.33) NS
Sales Price gain 64% ($171) - 9.94% NS
Energy Star
Rent gain 9% 3.3%
Sales price gain 27% - 5.3% 19%
Related Research Evidence
Marginal cost to develop - except Platinum
20-35% reductions in energy costs; long-term uncertain
Higher occupancy possible (McCormick 2008)
Productivity improvements of 18%; reductions of absenteeism up to 71% but unlinked to rating systems (Loftness)
Constraints on the Evolution of Green Building
Limited research evidence & data Unclear how to go to scale (building codes/House
Energy Bill 2009) Uncertain popular support for sustainability How fast will prices drop & evolving green technology? Flawed ratings systems Weak links to smart growth planning Weak link of social equity
LEED: Flawed tool or necessary harbinger?
Is LEED capturing essential elements of sustainability – can it do better?
Will standards to change to enable inclusiveness? Will it become less time consuming and costly?
“More Daunting than a Private School Application” Will there be funding & TA to assist developers? How & when will it grow to full scale?
What Green Building is not, yet
Not in all building codes Not yet large scale urban development planning
But Shanghai’s Dongtan Island; SWECo; LEED ND; Clinton Climate Change demos
Large scale tax policy and agency funded Inclusive: with planned provisions for affordability Not yet measured internationally
but recent MOU LEED; BREEAM; Green Star Not yet sociologically and economically feasible
But, it’s begun well
Despite disconnect between research and developers, the latter will proceed to adapt their buildings as markets permit
There may be important legislative changes Researchers have begun to measure important
outcomes There is evidence that it saves money & energy Affordable housing developers will continue to fight for
a piece of this action
Top Related