As with most industries, there’s been a growing green component within the building and development sector for well over a decade (and longer, if you count historic know-how that was dismissed by the mainstream). Now, it appears a tipping point is on the way, where “green building” may soon shed its niche enviro status and become standard practice, shifting the game for building developers, owners, operators and tenants.
As usual, this has to do with both carrots and sticks. Building green confers benefits that can’t be ignored: reduced operating and maintenance costs, reduced environmental footprint and generally superior interior comfort – more daylight, better heating and cooling, cleaner air.
The US Green Building Council says an upfront investment of 2% in green building design, on average, results in life-cycle savings of 20% of the total construction costs. Green buildings attract more tenants, can command higher rental rates and help both owners and tenants strut their green credentials. There are plenty of carrots to be had.
The sticks, by comparison, are still largely in the works, but they will be the driver that pushes green building into the mainstream. Says Helen Goodland, executive director of the non-profit Light House Sustainable Building Centre, “The culture [of building codes] has been to provide the very minimum of standards – essentially addressing life-safety issues, i.e., preventing buildings from becoming lethal weapons. Up until 2008, energy really didn’t figure in the BC Building Code beyond the basic requirement for insulation.”
Given that governments are seeking ways to improve energy security and mitigate climate change, and that buildings are a significant source of greenhouse gases (about 55% of Vancouver’s emissions are from buildings), this is set to change.
In what Goodland anticipates as a “seismic shift,” the next wave of building codes and standards will start to include performance-based metrics. While these could include water consumption, waste or other metrics, they will certainly include energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions measurements. And while new construction has long been the focus of increasing standards, attention is shifting to existing buildings now, too.
This is already happening elsewhere.
New York City requires energy audits every 10 years for buildings over 50,000 square feet, and requires building owners to upgrade lighting systems and make any improvements that would pay for themselves. (The plan is estimated to save New Yorkers $750 million and create 19,000 green jobs.)
Berkeley requires energy-efficiency retrofits to be made when buildings are sold and renovation permits are issued.
Perhaps strictest so far is San Francisco’s Existing Commercial Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance, which requires annual energy benchmarking and energy audits on a five-year basis. Vancouver is currently considering its own steps toward mandated energy performance measurement in buildings with a view to rolling out amendments to the Vancouver Building Bylaw by the end of this year.
Some building owners have already signed on to voluntary building performance standards – the best known being BOMA BESt (the Building Environmental Standards certification system offered by the Building Owners and Managers Association). This applies to existing building performance, whereas the LEED system (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) – despite rolling out a guide for existing buildings last year – largely references the context of design and construction decisions for new buildings only. LEED for new construction also relies on modelling, not actual post-construction performance, as the basis for certification. (The goal is to have LEED-designed buildings re-certify in the existing buildings program after they’re built, at which point actual performance would be assessed.)
Meanwhile, European standards are increasingly focused on carbon emissions and energy intensity – how much energy and emissions a building requires per unit area – metrics that help remove subjectivity and provide a clear measure of performance without the need for prescriptive standards, yielding more design freedom.
One such standard is Minergie, from Switzerland, which requires tight building envelopes, energy-efficient ventilation and specific energy-intensity limits for different building types. In Europe, facade engineering is a core discipline, with qualified and insured professionals and severe penalties for irregularities – a degree of accountability for building performance not yet seen here.
Recognition of the qualification of professionals also results in an effective and timely certification process. There are more than 18,000 Minergie-certified buildings in Switzerland alone. By comparison, there are 350 LEED-certified buildings in Canada.
As with most green evolutions, the path forward is not entirely clear – except that there is no dead end or reversal in sight. That means anyone building today must pay attention to building performance – or risk devaluing their investment. Since a badly performing building can cost tenants and future owners dearly in energy charges, the expectation of stricter codes and standards is already changing the market.
“This is becoming financially material to parties, so you’re seeing it more in contracts,” said Gil Yaron, senior business and policy adviser at Light House. “There’s more at stake now for everybody. Building operators are investing in better technologies, tenants are looking for savings in terms of energy and municipalities are putting pressure on the sector to perform better.
“Certification costs money so it’s being built into the cost of buildings. As this weaves its way into contracts, there are issues around accountability and liability as everything gets more solidified. This is becoming big business, and people need to pay attention to it.”
That’s probably why there was strong attendance at Light House’s recent quarterly Market Insights breakfast event, with guest speaker Marina Pratchett, QC, examining the legal issues now arising in LEED-certified buildings and contracts.
Light House has relaunched its breakfast series to focus on national green building issues with guest speakers on key topics, and it provides a roundup of policy and market developments in its quarterly Market Insights report. (In the interest of disclosure, I serve on Light House’s board.)
The next meeting, set for May 25, will focus on two reports related to the performance of existing buildings. If you’re in the business of designing, building or operating buildings, these breakfasts offer a quick way to keep on top of what’s changing on the green building front.