The construction market has taken a blood bath, however, it seems the growing trend of green building promises a face-lift for the stagnant industry. The belief is that green building creates healthier, more valuable, cleaner, more energy efficient, water efficient buildings. Some industry leaders are still skeptical, but many others are jumping on the Green bandwagon, and making their existing real estate assets greener. The 2010 ULI Fall Meeting and Urban Expo is going to be an excellent venue to test the theory: Is 2010 looking to be a pivotal year for transitioning the built environment into one that consumes significantly less energy, water and other resources?
In the commercial real estate market "green" retrofits are keeping everyone busy. Research and publishing firm McGraw-Hill Construction published a widely circulated report earlier this year that said nonresidential “green building retrofits” represent in the near-term a better opportunity for designers and builders than new construction. The market for these retrofits -– defined in this report as over $1 million in total cost and employing at least three aspects of green building such as energy, water and resource efficiency –- could grow to as much as $15 billion by 2014 from less than $4 billion this year.
Retro-commissioning, the practice of optimizing a building’s operation and maintenance activities such as around its heating and cooling systems, has become a sort of mantra for the industry. While the practice should be seen as just one piece of a comprehensive energy retrofit, retro-commissioning’s rise in popularity is for good reason since it can often lead to energy savings as high as 30 percent, says David Leathers, senior vice president of energy services for mechanical contractor Limbach. Leathers says that any commercial building in the U.S. five years or older can likely benefit from a retrofit with payback for most measures taken in less than five years.
Energy Codes Will Demand Greater Energy Efficiency: Ever since the energy crisis of the 1970s faded out of memory, energy codes adopted by states and other jurisdictions across the country have been making small, incremental steps toward demanding more efficiency out of buildings. But a consensus is forming that there needs to be more strict standards for building energy efficiency, says Jim Edelson, who runs the codes program for the New Building Institute, a nonprofit that promotes improved building energy performance.
The new versions of the “model codes” currently under development — ASHRAE 90.1 and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), which are typically but not always adopted by jurisdictions — will likely require a 30 percent increase in energy efficiency, what Edelson calls the “most significant” increase in a generation. ASHRAE 90.1 is planned to be available in 2010, and the IECC is targeting a 2012 release.
One issue to look out for in 2010 is if Congress decides to mandate that all states raise their standards to the newest codes. The American Clean Energy and Security Act passed by the House this year includes a provision that would effectively create a baseline national building energy code by mandating the adoption of a standard set by the Department of Energy, which would presumably point to ASHRAE or IECC. Consistent codes across the country would be good for anyone selling products or marketing services related to building energy efficiency, but it’s unclear if this provision will be part of the Senate’s version of the bill or if it will make it through any compromise legislation.
No matter what policies are enacted, the commercial real estate sector, creating high-performance, environmentally responsible, healthy, yet cost-effective buildings where we work, play, and learn makes good business sense. In a volatile economic and environmental climate—domestically and globally—in which large-scale issues such as energy independence, global climate change, aging infrastructure and healthcare costs are affecting businesses, green building strategies offer tangible ways to counteract these issues as well as strengthen the bottom line.
Pilar - a BrightGreen EnviroLeader
