The High Cost of Green Building

  • "In spite of persistent claims to the contrary from green advocates, 86% of respondents believe that it costs more to build a green building — and not just by a little." — High Perceived Cost of Green Persists, Says Survey (January 1, 2008)
  • "The report, the most exhaustive cost-benefit analysis of green building ever undertaken, found that green buildings have an average 0 to 2% increase in first cost over their conventional counterparts, but that they will recoup 20% of construction costs over 20 years — ­more than ten times the original investment in green features." — Building Green Pays (November 1, 2003)
  • "Program administrators were surprised to discover that their stringent criteria are being met using only conventional technologies, with little or no increase in building costs." — Canadian Program Discovers that Design Process is Key (January 1, 1996)
  • "Even the highest-cost scenarios fall within GSA's typical 10% design contingency at conceptual design phase." — GSA LEED Cost Study (December 1, 2004)
  • "With good integration of all the disciplines on a design team, it is possible to incorporate, within budget, many strategies that taken alone would increase costs." — Building Green on a Budget (May 1, 1999)
  • "The building was completed for $19.3 million, well under the $20.5 million budget." — High-Performance Building Skin Pays Off (July 1, 1997)
  • "We learned that it does not necessarily cost more to be environmentally sensitive; our project came in under budget." — Felician Sisters Convent and School (Case Study)
  • "The school was completed on time and under budget." — Fossil Ridge High School (Case Study)
  • "Focusing on libraries, academic classrooms, and laboratories, they compare the cost per square foot of 45 LEED-seeking projects with 93 that are not pursuing LEED certification. They found 'no statistically significant difference between the LEED population and the non-LEED population.' This finding held up within each building type as well as across the whole range of projects." — New Data on the Cost of Building Green (August 1, 2004)
  • "It is not possible to detect any statistically significant difference between the cost of green and non-green buildings." — Report Says Green Still Doesn't Drive Building Cost (August 1, 2007)

Comments