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Getting Greener
By Lora Hyler
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As public awareness grows, businesses are looking at ways to improve the impact from their operations on the environment and still please stockholders, employees and their communities. Green buildings are one important solution.
They may look like any other, but green buildings are operated and maintained in a sustainable manner. Sustainable is described as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."1 While many worry that green equates to higher cost, that's not necessarily true.
A Green ROI
Green buildings drive both economic and productivity benefits. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a nonprofit organization of leaders from the building and design industries, is working to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated. USGBC has developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System to verify green building performance on a consistent scale.
According to USGBC, green improvements to existing buildings on average pay for themselves within three years and have an annual return on investment of 25 percent to 40 percent. Improvements may include use of green cleaning products, retrofitting lighting to more energy-efficient models, storm water management, recycling of materials, encouraging use of alternative transportation, and improving air quality within buildings. Of these bottom-line improvements, USGBC says productivity benefits provide the greatest return, in the form of reduced absenteeism, enhanced recruitment, better employee morale and reduced turnover.
The University of Colorado at Boulder addition to the University Memorial Center earned the LEED EB silver certification in 2006.
According to the LEED-EB (Existing Buildings) Green Building rating system, a company is able to track progress among six categories:
1. Site Planning
2. Water Efficiency
3. Energy Performance
4. Material & Resource Use
5. Indoor Environmental Quality
6. Innovation and Operation
Enhancements to LEED-EB were rolled out in October 2007 to make the program more user-friendly. "We realized some changes could make it a lot easier for facility managers, by reducing paperwork and doing it in such a way that they can better manage their buildings," says Stephen Ashkin, President of The Ashkin Group in Bloomington, Ind. Stephen is a former member of the USGBC board of directors and one of the original architects of the LEED program for existing buildings.
He advises companies to assess where they are before developing a plan. "They can use LEED as a template for energy consumption, water conservation, site management, etc., and lay out what they're doing now, what they're doing well, what's prohibitive and apply price tags. Then organizations can decide how far and how fast they want to go at it," Stephen says.
He points to software developer Adobe Systems Inc., as an example of a company that aggressively pursued LEED certification. In December 2006, three of the company's buildings attained the platinum level of certification, the highest possible level based on a standard point system. Adobe invested about $650,000 and has seen a return on investment of $728,000 to date, according to a December 2006 press release from USGBC.
Stephen points out that the LEED standards evolve based on input from its many stakeholders. More than 10,000 member companies nationwide are currently members of the USGBC. Facility maintenance professionals can themselves be LEED accredited by taking courses and demonstrating their knowledge of the process.
Danny Murtagh, Director of Engineering for Boston Properties, a real estate investment trust that owns, manages and develops Class "A" office properties throughout the U.S., was recently accredited as a LEED professional. He helps steer the company through the LEED certification process. Danny says inquiries from clients and prospective clients led Boston Properties to investigate sustainability. "The market brought it to us. We've been watching it for some time. As we learned more about the USGBC and LEED, we became more involved in becoming environmentally friendly and cost efficient," Danny says.
In fact, LEED is taking off now with certified buildings in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
Teaming Up
Boston Properties’ began its effort by forming an employee stewardship committee which targeted what Danny terms the "low-hanging fruit, the low-cost or no-cost efforts," such as a green cleaning program.
USGBC awarded LEED platinum certifications for Adobe's East and Almaden headquarters towers in downtown San Jose, Calif. Adobe's West Tower was awarded platinum certification in July 2006.
Danny says Boston Properties’ San Francisco office is now on the road to sustainability and LEED certification. For its flagship effort, the company has implemented an aggressive recycling program. Tenants, staff and visitors are encouraged to deposit waste products using several different containers. Those containers are sent directly to their respective recycling stations. This reduces multiple handling and overall waste disposal costs. Boston Properties’ goal is to reduce actual solid waste by 75 percent by 2008, which would surpass the city of San Francisco’s goal to reach the same amount two years later.
Danny says one of the biggest challenges is educating people about the opportunities available to run a more efficient operation while benefiting the environment. "The LEED program is the most comprehensive system for efficiency for the built environment. I tell people that there’s no downside to sustainability. It makes good business sense, resource sense and economic sense."
"We are going through and doing an audit of maintenance products and searching out green alternatives," says Danny. These include certified products from Energy Star, NEMA Premium, Green Seal, Green Guard, and CRI. Other noncertified environmentally responsible products include: those that contain recycled content, low volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and products that conserve water and promote recycling.
First Things First
While the goal of sustainability may seem difficult for companies just setting out, every journey begins with the first step. Companies may get started by undertaking water conservation, recycling, switching to energy-efficient products and green cleaning. Specific examples include using recycling containers, high efficiency toilets and compact fluorescent lamps.
Building owners and their tenants are embracing the concept of green buildings as they come to understand its many benefits. Danny Murtagh of Boston Properties sums it up: "No one makes a conscious decision to leave a bad environment to their children. This program’s value is in raising education and awareness among businesses and corporations to become better stewards of the environment."
The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado earned LEED-EB gold certification for the Alliance Center, a hub for sustainability advocates and non-profits in lower downtown Denver.
Danny says the many USGBC local chapters are a great resource for companies whether they are looking to dip a toe into the water or to take the full leap into LEED certification. His advice? "Educate yourself on the LEED categories and processes. Take that newfound knowledge and look at opportunities within your operation to take the low-hanging fruit and make incremental changes. Keep track of your improvements. Start simple. If you take it all at once, it can be overwhelming." Grainger became a member of the USGBC in 2007.
1.United Nations "Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development." General Assembly Resolution 42/187.
Related Link
www.grainger.com/green
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