Green Development – Time to Learn the Art
by Jerry Yudelson, PE, MS, MBA, LEED AP
Increasing concern over global warming and the impact of development on water use and energy use, coupled with higher energy prices that seem here to stay – these are among the trends likely to radically alter the development environment over the next three to five years. As the DC Council action indicates, many local governments are signing onto measures to reduce their “carbon footprint” over the next 15 to 20 years, and an easy place to start is to begin asking new residential and commercial developments, including urban infill, to begin reducing their environmental footprints (building energy and water use, stormwater runoff and wastewater generation, auto use, etc.) (more)
What does this mean for the development world? First, there will be incentives offered to more “green” developments, particularly those using the LEED assessment system for new buildings and residential developments. For example, the City of Chicago is now offering “top of the pile” processing for LEED-registered projects. A big box retailer in Texas found local incentives for speedy permitting so attractive they opened nine months ahead of schedule, with the extra sales repaying the green certification costs many times over. Other governments are offering density bonuses and relaxing height restrictions for urban infill projects pursuing LEED certification.
This is “Phase One.” This is the time for developers to get their experience with green design. In my experience, there is a pronounced “learning curve” for both developers and their architect/engineer teams, in learning this new way of building to “best practices” standards on conventional budgets. You aren’t going to get everything right with the first project, but you need to get started.
But, watch out for “Phase Two.” The public wants the development community to be a full partner in the struggle to reduce energy use and water use in the built environment, to reduce the downstream impacts of stormwater and wastewater, by incorporating as many measures on-site as possible. Phase Two will begin with mandates: any commercial building, multifamily building or residential subdivision will have to commit to achieving a LEED Silver standard to get approval. By 2008, I predict this movement will begin to impact the development world, first on the “Left Coast,” the I-5 corridor from San Diego to Seattle, and probably simultaneously on the “Right Coast,” the I-95 corridor from Washington, DC, to Boston.
It’s time for developers to stop watching what’s going on and get the experience they will need to prosper in this newly constrained environment. Those who learn the fastest will acquire a marketplace advantage, able to meet mandates at a lower cost than those who drag their feet. I think it’s fair to say that if you’re not planning on beginning to “green” your development offerings in 2007, your projects will be obsolete before they’re finished.
