[GBlist] material costs

[debra lombard <dlombard@earthlink.net>]

RE:   "Fri, 11 Jan 2002 14:29:17 -0800
        Subject:   [GBlist]
material costs

Is anyone aware of a publication or book that addresses the absolute or
relative costs of sustainable materials, equipment, and systems compared to
conventional construction?  This is information I would love to reference
and pass on to clients and builders as we start and move through schematic
designs and beyond.  Clients and especially local builders are always
skeptical."
____________________________

Sustainable Design inherently means different things in different geographic locations as well as different design strategies. Another words, two buildings may be have the same Sq Ft in floor area but their "amount of activity/useful space" from building and interior design may really equal more than the other. Cost per square foot in that case is not comparable accurately. Regional variances of "green building materials" due to manufacturing location, shipping, sub-contractors, etc... make it too complex to compare similar building types in different climates or regions.

In my opinion, I would find the closest example of a sustainable design project that is either already built or under construction. Finding out about other green building projects close to your project would likely assist you with educating your local local real estate appraisers, lenders and/or building officials who may not be familiar with the sustainable design techniques in your project. Many organizations could assist you to find out about local projects such as the USGBC, SBIC. your local AIA COTE, NAHBRC, Rebuild America, local environmental organizations or groups, etc. You could also do web searches for projects and their contact info. One website DOE's Commercial High Performance Buildings Project, PATH website www.pathnet.org, www.biggreen.org
and www.greatbuildings.com.

John Hermasson's Green Building Resource Guide is a very good reference. See www.greenguide.com
For cost information, LCA should be used for comparisons. You could look at BEES 2.0 or Green Building Advisor. See http://www.buildinggreen.com/orders/gba_info.html or www.greenbuildingadvisor.com .

Please email me at dlombard@earthlink.net should you have any additional sources. I would like to compile them for my website.

~Debra Lombard
Sustainable Design Research and Consulting
Norwalk, CT
http://home.earthlink.net/~dlombard ______________________________________________________________________ This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com ______________________________________________________________________