Global Warming Causes

Demand for specific green building measures in LEEDNC

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certified projects

Using statistics from the USGBC, we can profile specific green building measures that are used by the green building market. The current split of LEED-NC

► 7.1 The Evergreen State College campus expansion project features a green roof on the LEED-NC Gold-certified project. Courtesy of DPR Construction.

► 7.1 The Evergreen State College campus expansion project features a green roof on the LEED-NC Gold-certified project. Courtesy of DPR Construction.

version 2.1 certified projects is about 41 percent certified, 32 percent Silver, 23 percent Gold and 3 percent Platinum. Higher levels of certification demand more use of specific green building measures. The analysis in Table 7.1 considers only the points gained by LEED-NC version 2.1 Silver projects, just to give a taste of what a building team is likely to do in that situation.

Use of green building measures in LEED-NC-certified projects

Tables 7.1 and 7.2 help a marketer understand not only how to achieve LEED points, but which measures are likely to be used in green building projects. The use of specific green building products and green design measures generally falls into three distinct categories. As the market for higher levels of LEED certification grows, we can expect that certain products in the "somewhat likely" category will be used in more than 67 percent of projects, such as CO2 monitors, and that certain products such as PV (even though the cost/benefit ratio is high) and FSC certified wood will move into the "somewhat likely" category, because they are more visible signs of commitments to sustainable building measures than others.

Based on the data in Tables 7.1 and 7.2, I estimate in Table 7.3 the market size for various green building measures for a typical year in which 2,000 projects register for LEED certification. This may occur as early as 2008, based on trends emerging in 2007. When creating a high-performance building, with

Table 7.1 Green measures used in LEED-NC version 2.1 Silver-certified projects3 Highly likely to be used (67% or more of projects)

Low-VOC paints, coatings, adhesives, sealants Low-VOC carpeting

20% or more recycled-content materials 20% or more local/regional materials

Proper site selection, avoiding environmentally sensitive areas

Three innovation credits: public education, 95% construction waste recycling and 40% water conservation

Somewhat likely to be used (33-66% of projects)

Daylighting 75% of spaces and views to the outdoors from 90% of spaces

Construction period indoor air quality maintenance

Permanent temperature and humidity monitoring systems

Purchased green power for at least 2 years

30% improvement in fresh air ventilation; underfloor air systems

Two-week building flushout prior to occupancy

Carbon-dioxide monitors to improve ventilation effectiveness

Bioswales, detention/retention ponds and/or rainwater reclamation systems

Green roofs or Energy Star roofs

Reduce urban heat island effect with site shading, reflective hardscape Site restoration with native plants

Cutoff light fixtures and lower outdoor ambient lighting levels

30% water conservation through low-water-use fixtures and water-free urinals

35-40% energy use reduction over ASHRAE 90.1-1999 modeled levels

Additional building commissioning: peer review of design-phase documents

No added urea-formaldehyde (UF) in composite wood or agrifiber products

Less often used (less than 33% of projects)

Alternative fuel vehicles (hybrids, natural gas, electric)

Measurement and verification systems, using US Department of Energy Protocols Solar PV

Use of FSC-certified wood products

Operable windows and individual control of lighting and ventilation

Use of rapidly renewable materials, such as cork, bamboo, agrifiber boards, linoleum high levels of energy efficiency without sacrificing indoor air quality or thermal comfort, architects and engineers will use many new green building products, systems and design approaches. Two of the most important emerging green technologies are green roofs and solar power, dealt with specifically in this chapter.

GREEN BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES 129 Table 7.2 Specific LEED-NC version 2.1 points used by Silver-certified projects4

LEED Credit Category	Percentage of Certified Projects	Typical Measures Used to Meet Point Requirements
SS 4.3 - Alternative fuels	29	Electric vehicle charging; hybrids; low-emission cars
SS 5.2 - Site restoration	56	Preserve habitat; use native vegetation
SS 6.1 - Stormwater management	40	Bioswales; detention ponds; rainwater capture and recycling
SS 7.2 - Urban heat island effect	63	Green (vegetated) roofs; Energy Star roofs with high emissivity
SS 8 - Light pollution reduction	44	Cutoff fixtures; lower nighttime ambient lighting
WE 3.2 - 30% water use reduction	62	Low-use fixtures; water-free urinals
EA 1.2 - Average project achieved 35-40% reduction in energy use	50	High-performance glazing; reduced ambient lighting levels; better building envelope
EA 2.2 - 10% renewables for electricity use	5	PV; on-site renewables
EA 3 - Additional commissioning	50	Third-party commissioning
EA 5 - Measurement/verification	23	Additional energy monitoring
EA 6 - Purchased green power	45	Buy green power for 2 years
MR 4.2 - 10% recycled content materials	73	Specify recycled-content materials
MR 6 - Rapidly renewable materials	4	Cork; linoleum; agrifiber MDF board
MR 7 - 50% use of certified wood	19	FSC-certified lumber
EQ 1 - Carbon dioxide monitors	59	CO2 monitors
EQ 2 - High-efficiency ventilation	35	Underfloor air systems
EQ 3.1 - Construction IAQ	55	Best practices/MERV-13 filters
EQ 3.2 - Air quality at occupancy	55	Two-week flush-out before occupancy
EQ 4.1/4.2 - Low-VOC coatings	79	Specify low-VOC materials
EQ 4.3 - Low-emission carpeting	90	Specify low-VOC carpeting
EQ 4.4 - No UF in composite wood	46	No added urea-formaldehyde in composites
EQ 6.1 - Thermal comfort (perimeter)	23	Operable windows
EQ 6.2 - Thermal comfort (interior)	15	Underfloor air systems
EQ 7.2 - Temperature/humidity monitoring	67	Humidification/dehumidification
EQ 8.1 - Daylighting factor of 75%	41	Light shelves; skylights
EQ 8.2 - Views to outdoors for 90% of spaces	59	Space layout; larger windows
ID 1.2 - Two innovation points	83	Public education; 30% recycled content
ID 1.4 - Four innovation points	45	40% water conservation, solar power

This book does not deal directly with marketing green products in commercial building markets, but there are many products that assist in meeting requirements for points in such LEED-NC credit categories as water efficiency, green roofs, low- or no-VOC materials, high-recycled-content materials, Energy Star roofs, certified wood products and materials made from rapidly renewable

Table 7.3 Estimated minimum annual market for green building measures In LEED-registered projects at 2,000 annual LEED-NC registrations5

Green Building Measures	Percentage of Projects Using Measure5"	Percentage of Total Materials Cost	Estimated Market Value in 2005 or 2006
Recycled content	71	105b	$960 million
Rapidly renewable materials	7	5	$48 million
Certified wood	25	1 5c	$67 million5d
Low-VOC paints, sealants, adhesives, etc.	83	0.55e	$55 million
Low-VOC carpet	93	N/A	$360 million5'
Solar power systems	10	N/A5g	$192 million511
Green roofs	10	N/A	$36 million5i
Underfloor air systems	20	N/A	$288 million5
Water-free urinals	405k	N/A	$5 million

materials such as cork, bamboo and agrifiber products. Many of the other measures that receive LEED-NC points, as listed in Tables 7.1 and 7.2, involve design and construction decisions that are made at various stages of the integrated design and building process and do not require specific marketing measures by outside firms. They are more likely to be influenced by the project's LEED goals, by the use of an integrated design process and by the relative green design skills of the firms involved.

If design firms want to become known for something special, then they should pay attention to specific green measures that afford good opportunities for joint marketing efforts with product and equipment vendors, as well as those products and systems that capture media attention. Nothing beats publicity like having your project, with its green roof, PV system and LEED Gold plaque highlighted as a lead story on the six o'clock or ten o'clock network news station in your city. You'll get on camera, and dozens, possibly hundreds of clients, prospective employees and others in your industry will see it, almost guaranteed. This type of "endorsement marketing" is worth tens of thousands of dollars of free advertising.

Even in this brief assessment, we can see that identifiable green building measures in LEED-registered buildings may account for nearly $2,000 million (US $2 billion) in new market value, beginning in 2007 or 2008. Considering that LEED-registered projects do not represent the entire market for green building measures, and adding in the large expenditures for energy-efficiency measures with relatively fast paybacks, it is easy to conclude that there may be tens of billions of additional dollars spent on green materials and systems, much of it replacing expenditures on "less green" items, stemming from projects' decisions to increase their level of efficiency and sustainability.

The next two sections of this chapter deal with marketing energy-efficiency technologies in high-performance buildings and with marketing green buildings with solar power systems. Green building marketers need to understand how to leverage their marketing efforts with specific systems and approaches, so that prospective clients (and employees) are more likely to hear about the projects and want to hire (or join) the firm.

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