A new study shows that green buildings are far more expensive than they are made out to be, and that it may take longer than advertised for energy savings to cancel out costs.
Jeffrey Harris, a vice president at the pro-efficiency group Alliance to Save Energy, said these claims have a sturdy foundation in the laboratorys and in the real world. He pointed to the Energy Department's data on high-performance buildings, as well as other databases containing information on existing buildings. Engineers and green-building leaders, he said, 'are not breaking a huge amount of sweat in getting beyond 30 percent in code.'
He also had major question marks about the NAIOP study. He called the 10-year payback target 'an undershot,' since the savings of a green building continue as long as it's still standing. He also questioned the report's assumptions about electricity prices and the cost of certain 'green' features."
"[John] Bryant, [an] NAIOP lobbyist, disagreed. He said commercial building developers routinely make decisions based on a five-to-10-year payback period, and if green buildings broke even that quickly, builders would have erected more.
'We're looking at it from a developer point of view, when maybe some of the other groups aren't,' he said."
FULL STORY: Can Green Buildings Pass Payback Tests?
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
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