The Green Building Revolution
by Jerry Yudelson
ISBN: 9781597261791
There has been a quiet revolution going on around the world for the past few decades, and it seems to have been successful at organizing itself into a larger movement with the potential to transform, ultimately, the way we consume energy. The movement has a cross-section of society for its membership including, architects, engineers, builders, developers, politicians, and consumers, all of them working together to create more efficient buildings. Green buildings use less energy and water than old ones. The movement has spread to include Federal legislation that requires new buildings to conform to green standards. This book describes many examples of how commercial buildings, schools, universities, public buildings, health care institutions, public housing developments, and neighborhoods are being designed to use fewer resources. The author of this book believes that the trend of building green is one that should be continued for the simple fact that it is more efficient, cleaner, and longer-lasting. The book includes photos, tables, and charts to help visualize some of the concepts being presented. This revolution has already begin to transform our world in significant ways that will last well into the twentieth century.
_______________________________
Human beings have been building structures ever since their beginning, but not until the dawn of the industrial age did the concentration of concrete, steel, wires, and consumable goods that we call urban centers become unhealthy for the natural environment around and in which they are built. This is not good for all living things, even human species.The buildings we construct around us have a profound impact on our lives. The natural environment that is created in urban centers can almost be considered its own distinct biome. In these cities, human beings interact more with machinery than they do with the natural world. Is it any wonder that the natural environment is suffering from neglect?
The economy that we have created on this planet is based around consuming resources, and this is sustainable only if the demands of the market do not outweigh the given restraints of the global economic system. Industry has a heavy burden to carry creating widgets and gadgets of every make and model; this is what has come to be known as productivity.
The current level of productivity, though, has become hazardous to the health of people across the globe. In America, the only reason that the EPA has not regulated emissions from industry is that its hands are tied by a pro-fossil fuel administration in the White House. In response to a non-responsive government, many states have enacted their own legislation to begin cleaning up the industries in their respective states.
First on the list of culpability in relation to energy consumption and pollution discharge are commercial buildings. While there are more residential units in totality, there just are more intense and dirtier things going on at the factories and industrial centers around he world.
We use a lot of electricity here in the United States, and commercial buildings are responsible for the bulk of it. Commercial buildings use 40% of all the energy used domestically; they consume 40% of the raw materials; they release 40% of all of the CO2 emitted; and are accountable for producing 30% of the waste and using 15% of all of the water. Commercial buildings consist of all of the buildings used in the manufacturing, storage, and distribution of products of any kind. This part of society is the sector that green building tries to clean up the most.
In pursuit of this goal of cleaning up the commercial sector, LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, was created. This is the quiet revolution that was being referenced earlier.
The rating system for buildings falls into three categories, which include silver, gold, and platinum. Without getting into all of the technicalities here about the ratings, the simple explanation is that projects receive points for including certain design concepts and building materials. Point totals fall into a range for the given categorical ratings.
What do you get points for, you ask? Projects receive points for things like sustainable site selection, efficient use of water, use of renewable energy systems, using fewer materials of higher quality, and using design to enhance environmental performance. Architects in regions of the country that have adopted LEED regulations as the preferred method for new and existing construction projects need to be LEED certified in order to perform professionally.
Many people who used to ask why build green, are finding their answer in the resale value of LEED certified buildings. Owners of individual homes as well as commercial buildings are finding that structures that are built upon the environmental principles contained in the LEED rating system hold their value over the long-term. In fact, most buildings that are built without the LEED rating system become obsolete in the sense that they are worth more torn down; because of this fact, many financial institutions are not financing projects that do not use LEED.
This is another example of how market-based principles can provide solutions to some of our environmental problems. Inefficient buildings are becoming a thing of the past because of basic market principles. Environmentally friendly buildings are becoming mainstream because of simple economics.
The trend of building green can not only be seen in commercial buildings, but also in certain manufacturing processes that are going green because of simple economic factors.
Manufacturers are learning to recycle wastewater because the price of fresh water is increasing as it becomes more scarce. Manufacturers are also learning to capture CO2 for reuse or resale or for sequestering because the price of polluting the atmosphere is becoming too expensive. Many manufacturers are beginning to leek to renewable energy to power their facilities so they can have a reliable, consistently priced energy source on which to base operations.
Even the most conservative commercial building managers and manufacturing operators can find cost saving opportunities in digitalizing electricity demand so that the utilities can handle the peak loads more fluidly by being able to control consumption remotely. This is a relatively simple and inexpensive way to streamline energy use before optimizing energy efficiency. Several companies are perfectly positioned to capitalize on this movement in the manufacturing and commercial sectors of industry. These companies work mostly with building operators to retrofit existing structures to use energy more efficiently and save bottom line money.
As the efficiency movement continues to go mainstream, costs will continue to come down and more options will continue to come online. For now, there are several ways for existing building managers to improve the efficiency and lower the costs of operation. Around $150 per barrel of oil, it becomes viable to retrofit. At $100 per barrel, the status quo remains.
We have reached a critical time and have achieved a critical mass. The price of oil at $150 has showed us a critical ceiling where current manufacturing processes become inefficient, and many businesses and industries run the risk of losing future financing opportunities, or worse, diminishing bottom-line revenue unless they drastically change the way that they go about using revenue and consuming natural resources. The companies that do this now, before the price of oil makes it mandatory, are the ones that will be positioned to capitalize on a manufacturing and commercial industry based upon environmental principles and social responsibility.
Of course, many new buildings are being built using LEED standards, but many existing buildings are in desperate need of being retrofitted, and even with the price of oil at $100, they are having a hard time competing because of the cost of operating inefficient manufacturing processes. Ultimately, these buildings will need to be retrofitted or they will not be able to stay in operation. If not now, then at least by 2010. 2020? Inevitably, sustainability will replace commercialism out of necessity, so, the question to pose to any serious investor out there is centered around the timing. Is now the time to start investing in sustainable business and renewable energy, not only for the small investor, but also for the longer term, wealthier ones?
Redesigning industry and basic domestic infrastructure is a generational project; one that is well overdue. The money that will be poured into retrofitting infrastructure for efficiency and into new construction projects that use renewable energy will be unprecedented. Commercial buildings represent just one sector of the larger human society we have created. The water infrastructure, the electricity transmission system, and our interstate roads all are in desperate need of being updated. The innovations in the green building industry are spreading into virtually every aspect of the business community, and there are numerous opportunities for an investor to capitalize on investing in the these areas.
Just think of the possibilities of turning all America’s roadways into solar power generators. The potential exists to create a truly monumental shift in how the human species interacts with the planet as a whole and utilizes the forces on it in more harmonious, less destructive ways. Capitalism can sustain itself; it does not care what we sell. Why don’t we just sell more environmentally friendly products?
The industry leaders of the future will not only have to bear the traditional financial responsibilities to shareholders that we have today, but they will have become the leaders of tomorrow because of their social and environmental commitment to policies that allow them to grow by using less resource-intensive manufacturing processes with cleaner waste streams. Zero waste systems are the way of future; the optimal production process utilizes all waste as an input into another production process.
Those leading companies are already in the market today; they are making money for investors that are savvy enough to see the beginning of this hundred-year trend. All trends are hard to make out as they start, but just as the nineteenth century, English philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge escaped the industrial smoke-filled tumult of England’s industrial age, with the right perspective, this trend is quite obvious. Even if oil goes to $30, there are still other factors that are driving the move toward renewable energy and sustainable business.
Some of the companies who saw this trend in the 1970s when the drive for renewable energy began are leading the renewable energy industry today, but many renewable energy companies were quickly shot down when oil recovered and prices came down. Is this pattern of boom and bust ultimately what sets the precedent for the current renewable energy push, or were the failures of the 1970s part of a learning curve that has ultimately provided a set of perfect market conditions for the sustainable movement to once and for all go mainstream over the course of the next few decades?
Businesses are beginning to realize that they cannot generate consistent revenues without taking on the responsibilities that go along with industrial-sized resource consumption, not in a future that is wired. Information spreads around the globe too fast today, and consumers can organize themselves like never before. It makes every business sense in the world to adopt some set of environmental principles into the business strategy. This would be why we are seeing so many companies greenwashing their same old day-to-day activities to appear more environmentally friendly. The grain ethanol industry is a perfect example investigation that uncovered the greenwashing that was hiding the unsustainable nature of the whole endeavor. Now let’s apply the same criticism to the petroleum, coal, and natural gas industries; are they really sustainable, even in the short-term?
Many states are beginning to offer incentive packages to homeowners and commercial building managers to put energy efficient technologies in place. At the same time, the EPA is reporting that our traditional methods of developing energy are going to have to be taxed in the near future because of the environmental and social costs associated with continuing to burn them at the level we are burning them. These crossing trends offer investors a unique opportunity to be a part of the transition to an innovation economy.
___________________________web recommendation
U.S. Green Building Council
www.usgbc.org
The U.S. Green Building Council is a non-profit organization that is responsible for certifying sustainable businesses, homes, hospitals, schools, and neighborhoods. USGBC is dedicated to expanding green building practices through its LEED Rating System. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a voluntary, consensus-based national rating system for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. LEED addresses all building types and emphasizes state-of-the-art strategies in five areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials/resources selection, and indoor environmental quality. It is mandatory in many regions of the country to be LEED certified in order to be considered a professional in the given field.
No comments:
Post a Comment