First Costs
Reduced operational costs, improved occupant health and productivity, and buildings with small ecological footprints: these are the ways we make the case for green buildings.
What about first cost?
Perhaps to the detriment of green building adoption, we’ve been letting flashy products and innovative case studies paint a picture of higher first costs for green buildings. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Constraints fuel creativity, and plenty of projects are leveraging budgets limitations to meet sustainability goals by designing simpler, more effective spaces.
First Costs
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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Cost-Effective Green Retrofits: Opportunities for Savings in Existing Buildings
Feature Article
Between lighting, water use, mechanical systems, the building envelope, and occupant health, existing buildings are rife with cost-effective retrofits and operational opportunities that also offer environmental benefits. Improvements range from the painfully obvious to the more complex and involved.
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Integrated Project Delivery: A Platform for Efficient Construction
Feature Article
Integrated project delivery, or IPD, is a new contract mechanism for design and construction. Among its benefits for green building, it enshrines integrated design and building information modeling (BIM) into a legally supportive framework.
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Water Policies: Encouraging Conservation
Feature Article
Conserving water goes beyond building design and technology. Water use is governed by federal, state, and local policies, from maximum flow requirements to pricing structures that encourage or discourage conservation.
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Navigating Incentives and Regulations for Green Building
Feature Article
When used in combination, incentives and regulations can be a powerful force for encouraging green buildings. Incentives can be complicated to navigate, but are often well worth the effort. Regulations, on the other hand, can be slow to change, but can raise the baseline for building performance.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Fannie Mae Offers Lower Interest Rates to Green Multifamily
News Brief
Multifamily building developers and owners now have a greater financial incentive to pursue green certifications: they’ll be rewarded by Fannie Mae
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GBCI Acquires Sustainable Real Estate Benchmark GRESB
News Analysis
The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark goes after investment-grade data with the USGBC-affiliated Green Building Certification Institute.
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Cross-Laminated Timber Could Save 4% on Building Costs
News Brief
Though cross-laminated timbers are still relatively rare, they are already cost-competitive and likely to get cheaper, an analysis suggests.
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LEED Helps Hotels Book Quickly and Charge More
News Brief
Continuing its series of investigations into the outcomes of greening hotels, Cornell finds LEED hotels benefit from higher revenues.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Learning Resources
A wide range of education options, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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