Cost and benefit of energy efficient buildings

A common misconception among developers and policy-makers is that "sustainable buildings" may not be financially justified. However, this report strives to show that building green is cost-effective and does make financial sense today. Though green buildings typically have a higher upfront cost compared to conventional constructions, they do offer benefits that simply built-to-code projects lack. These benefits include cost savings from reduced energy and water use, less waste production, diminished environmental and emissions costs, lower operations and maintenance costs, and enhanced occupant productivity and health. These values range from being fairly predictable (energy and water savings can be recorded over time) to relatively uncertain (productivity/health benefits are somewhat arbitrary and subjective). Based on a 20-year Net Present Value analysis with a 5% real interest rate, a recent study by the California Sustainable Energy Task Force showed the total financial benefits of green design to be $50/ft2 - $75/ft2, depending on the building's level of LEED Certification. This number is over ten times bigger than the average 2% cost premium calculated for the 33 green buildings they analyzed-about $3-5/ft in California.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Zhang, Wenying, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Leon R. Glicksman.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/36819

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/36819