I would have to add that Hoffman, LLC has been building sustainable buildings for almost 15 years, using our Total Project Management: Vision to the Power of Green (TPMg) project delivery method to plan, design, and construct ALL of our projects to a LEED Silver or Gold level of sustainability at or below conventional cost.
2 recent project examples we've built are:
1. River Crest Elementary School - Hudson, WI
-completed Fall 2008
-will be LEED Gold
-recycled 97% of all construction waste
-built at $165/sqft (substantially lower costs than typical for conventional, non-LEED certified elementary school projects in the Twin Cities area and western Wisconsin)
2. Northland Pines High School - Eagle River, WI
-completed in 2006
-first LEED Gold public high school in the country
-23% below the national average square-foot cost of $150 for high schools built in 2006.
-recycled 83% of all construction waste
My position at Hoffman is Business Developer and I work very hard everyday to educate as many as I can about sustainability and the common misconception that to build sustainably or to LEED Certify your building, you will have to increase your project budget.
Reasons for increased costs are: lack of experience (learn as you go - MAIN REASON), sustainability isn't integrated into the very beginning of the process but instead offered late in the design phase, LEED is the driving force for all decision making (do whatever you need to to get the point), lack of knowledge for where to find local and sustainable products, and not bringing the entire project team together from the start to work together to solve problems as they come up. Projects in general can cost more if you hire a separate architect and general contractor. Architects many times will design a building and then the General Contractor will find things that are not constructable, which then requires a change order. This is an additional fee above the agreed upon amount unless using a GMP.
Overall, when looking to hire a firm to take you through the process, ask them how much more it will cost to build a sustainable building. If there answer is anything BUT at or below conventional cost, you should keep looking.
I hope you found this to be helpful!
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