When Going Green Is Less Important Than Saving Green

"That commitment makes Edina just the latest in a string of area cities that are trying to balance costs with incorporating energy-saving and environmentally sensitive practices into new public buildings.

'There isn't a public building going up where you wouldn't take a look at these things,' said Mike Eastling, director of public works in Richfield, where a $12 million public works building with state-of-the-art green features opened last year."

The costs of going green in this instance were too high for the city, which is now delaying the project and bending some rules to try to get the geothermal system in place more affordable. Many other cities across the country are starting to reconsider whether the costs of going green are really too high.