Editor's Note: To learn more about energy-efficient buildings, check out VERGE@Greenbuild, November 12-13, in San Francisco, where Riggs Kubiak will be speaking.
Many sustainability-minded businesses realize that green buildings usually have lower energy costs, but that may not be the most significant reason to incorporate sustainable design in your facilities. That’s because utility bills, and even construction costs, are typically a relatively small part of a business’s bottom line. The larger portion – as much as 92 percent of a building's design, construction, operations and maintenance – comes from labor and labor-related costs. (A white paper published in Building Design+Construction puts those costs at 78 percent, while CTG Energetics President Malcolm Lewis estimates they make up an average of 92 percent.) The good news: Buildings that utilize sustainable design can realize substantial savings in their labor expenses.
The relationship between green buildings and reduced labor costs is strong, with documentable reductions in the real costs of labor and overhead. Most of the labor benefits arise from some of the less sexy aspects of green building, the ones affecting indoor environmental quality. IEQ includes indoor air quality, which is enhanced in green buildings by fewer pollutants from building materials, cleansers, equipment, etc. Less obvious green building attributes, such as quality; the availability of fresh air, daylight and views of nature; as well as the controllability of lighting, heating and cooling, all contribute to better IEQ.
All of these aspects also define the experience of the people occupying the space, whether it’s an office, home, school, medical facility or even a store. For instance, studies have shown that students learn more, customers buy more, and patients recover faster in buildings with natural light and views.
Silhouette of worker by 1971yes via Shutterstock
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great article about 'green'.
great article about 'green'. what i have found is that people are moving to exposed concrete floors and finding that polishing concrete saves them in long term maintenance cost...mostly in materials, partly in labor. Maintaining polished concrete is much easier than waxing floors and less labor intensive....plus it utilizes the existing surface.
Improving IAQ is harder than
Improving IAQ is harder than most people realize. It involves documenting that actual delivered ventilation rates exceed those listed in ASHRAE Standard 62.1, as those ventilation rates are merely to achieve "ACCEPTABLE" IAQ where no more than 20% of those exposed are dissatisfied. Greater ventilation rates than ASHRAE's minimum have been shown to decrease short-term absentee rates. Relying on local thermostats and VAV boxes may not provide the desired ventilation rates i the early parts of meetings due to thermal lag control issues. The best way I know to determine if the intended ventilation rates are actually being provided to a building's occupants is to use one of the accurate centralized shared-sensor monitoring systems to measure what you want to manage. Any questions?