Blog Post

The High Cost of Green Building

  • "In spite of persistent claims to the contrary from green advocates, 86% of respondents believe that it costs more to build a green building — and not just by a little." — High Perceived Cost of Green Persists, Says Survey (January 1, 2008)
  • "The report, the most exhaustive cost-benefit analysis of green building ever undertaken, found that green buildings have an average 0 to 2% increase in first cost over their conventional counterparts, but that they will recoup 20% of construction costs over 20 years — ­more than ten times the original investment in green features." — Building Green Pays (November 1, 2003)
  • "Program administrators were surprised to discover that their stringent criteria are being met using only conventional technologies, with little or no increase in building costs." — Canadian Program Discovers that Design Process is Key (January 1, 1996)
  • "Even the highest-cost scenarios fall within GSA's typical 10% design contingency at conceptual design phase." — GSA LEED Cost Study (December 1, 2004)
  • "With good integration of all the disciplines on a design team, it is possible to incorporate, within budget, many strategies that taken alone would increase costs." — Building Green on a Budget (May 1, 1999)
  • "The building was completed for $19.3 million, well under the $20.5 million budget." — High-Performance Building Skin Pays Off (July 1, 1997)
  • "We learned that it does not necessarily cost more to be environmentally sensitive; our project came in under budget." — Felician Sisters Convent and School (Case Study)
  • "The school was completed on time and under budget." — Fossil Ridge High School (Case Study)
  • "Focusing on libraries, academic classrooms, and laboratories, they compare the cost per square foot of 45 LEED-seeking projects with 93 that are not pursuing LEED certification. They found 'no statistically significant difference between the LEED population and the non-LEED population.' This finding held up within each building type as well as across the whole range of projects." — New Data on the Cost of Building Green (August 1, 2004)
  • "It is not possible to detect any statistically significant difference between the cost of green and non-green buildings." — Report Says Green Still Doesn't Drive Building Cost (August 1, 2007)

Published July 19, 2008

(2008, July 19). The High Cost of Green Building. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/news-article/high-cost-green-building

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BuildingGreen Basic Member

September 18, 2008 - 6:59 am

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!

BuildingGreen Basic Member

July 29, 2008 - 4:45 pm

It's refreshing to see such a number of quotes as "proof" that building green is not much more expensive than traditional construction. Energy Efficient Home Design can save a tremendous amount of time, energy and money before the foundation is ever laid. And, in some cases, it costs no more, or at least the energy savings costs are recouped rather quickly.

It's a case of "pay me now, or pay me later" - traditional construction means higher month to month energy bills, and the toll that VOCs and formaldehyde take on the health of the occupants may cost plenty of money and human energy down the road.

Thanks for the compilation.