GreenBuild Blog
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Incentives: An Excerpt from Jerry Yudelson’s “Green Building A to Z”
Given a choice, most people prefer the carrot to the stick; at this point in the development of green building methods, techniques and technologies, incentive systems seem a better approach than mandates. Incentives allow the private sector to experiment with a vast array of methods for achieving various levels of energy-efficiency and LEED certification. By combining all of a building’s environmental attributes into a point system, LEED makes it easy to trade off among various components of a building while still achieving a specified result such as Silver, Gold or Platinum. However, green building advocates and local and state government leaders are not going to wait around for the private sector to construct high-performance buildings. By 2010, if not sooner, we are going to see incentives coupled with mandates, as green buildings and green homes move into the mainstream. The issues of combating climate change are too urgent and too political to wait a generation for the private sector to start constructing and operating buildings in a sustainable manner. But for now, incentives are the preferred method for accelerating the growth of green buildings.
Click here to download the PDF version.
Company News • PermalinkTweet
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Green Building Consultant pens book on sustainability for developers
From Jan Buchholz’ Phoenix Business Journal review of Green Building A to Z: For people who don’t know the meaning of zero-net-energy buildings, ecologic footprints or cradle-to-cradle design, a new book helps set the record straight about sustainability.
“Green build” consultant Jerry Yudelson is the author of “Green Building A to Z.” The owner of consulting firm Yudelson Associates in Tucson has become an international authority on green building, and he’s taking his message to the masses. “What’s been missing is an introductory piece for people who aren’t professional engineers and architects, but they want to know about green building,” he said.
The 222-page easy read is published by New Society Publishers. It’s available for $16.95 through most online booksellers, and will be in bookstores by November.
Although the material is presented in a simple format, Yudelson said, “It’s technical, it’s accurate, but it’s brief. It’s for people who don’t want a detailed treatise, but they don’t want a dumbed-down version, either.”
Ryc Loope, director of Arizona State University’s master’s degree program in real estate development, got an early peek at the softcover. He said the book will be an “invaluable” tool for developers and individuals who want to get into the green-build arena, but aren’t well versed yet. “Jerry is one of the more forward thinkers in this area,” Loope said. “He was a part of our sustainability discussion last year, and he’s back again this year.”
Company News • PermalinkTweet
Corporate Real Estate Chiefs Join the Green Building Revolution!
Seventy-nine percent (79%) of respondents to a recent CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle survey say that sustainability is a near-term business issue that’s important today, or will be in the next 1-2 years. The international corporate real estate organization, CoreNet Global, and Jones Lang LaSalle queried more than 2300 attendees of CoreNet Global Summits on four continents in recent months.
According to the survey, most companies are willing to pay for sustainable real estate solutions. Seventy-seven percent say they are willing to pay a premium for sustainability and 22 percent expect to pay the same. But there’s also a gap between what sustainable real estate solutions actually cost and the perception of what they will cost. 74% thought that the “green premium” was 5% or more, whereas studies indicate that designing buildings energy-efficiently, or building them to LEED certification, will cost about 1-5 percent more than conventional construction, and the incremental cost is falling.
See the full story at Environmental Leader, one of the best edited newsletters covering the corporate sustainability movement.
Green Building News • PermalinkTweet
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Green Building: From Trend to Revolution!
At the end of 2006, the cumulative number of LEED-registered projects increased 50% above 2005 year-end totals to 5026, and the cumulative number of LEED-certified projects increased 67%, to 669. Current statistics through the middle of September show that the cumulative number of LEED-registered projects had increased 52% in less than nine months, on track to achieve more than 70% growth in 2007. During the same period, the cumulative number of LEED-certified projects had grown 58%, reaching nearly 1100, on track to achieve more than 80% growth during 2007. Over the same period, the number of USGBC dues-paying members grew more than 60%! Folks, this is a full-fledged revolution underway, no longer just a “trend!”
Green Building News • PermalinkTweet
Page 41 of 58 pages « First < 39 40 41 42 43 > Last »
Subscribe via RSS
Subscribe via Email