As recently as ten years ago, sustainable buildings were viewed as experimental but today, are becoming more feasible. And still, owners and project stakeholders are often forced to choose between sustainability and cost. An owner may have ambitious sustainability goals but if the cost of bringing them to life is too high, they may be out of reach.
Designers, engineers and contractors work to accommodate an owner’s environmental goals but run into problems when pricing comes into play. Often, green features push the project over budget and realizing the building can’t generate enough rent to satisfy the proforma, the owner askes the team to come up with a less costly option. In doing so, green features are cut one by one until the project is within budget, but far less sustainable.
Through advances in technology and innovative approaches to construction, sustainable buildings today don’t have to cost more. Beginning in the earliest design phase, all the way to operations, sustainable buildings are becoming a reality without breaking the bank.