Can green = cash?

We are very fortunate to be currently working with a developer on a new five bedroom, four bath home on prime real estate on the Peninsula not far from Stanford University.  While we try to encourage all of our clients to make green choices for environmental and health reasons, in this case, the decisions need to make sense on the bottom line from day 1. 

Contractors, real estate agents, material suppliers, green point raters, designers, green homeowners, we need your help!

Over the next few weeks, we would like to analyze the project using Build It Green's rating program for new homes and try to find areas where green features can be added with little or no additional costs.  We would love input from you in the building profession as to what has worked for you in the past, or where you are seeing good deals now in this competitive economy.  Designers and homeowners who have incorporated green features in past projects, where have you seen the most bang for your buck, either in initial savings or in operating costs?  What features have given you the most pleasure over the long term?

We'd like to hear from you real estate folks as to whether buyers in the Bay Area would pay a premium if they knew that the home was Green Point Rated with points in community, energy, indoor air quality/health, resources and water.  Has real local research been done?  How would you quantify the potential financial differences between traditional vs. green construction?

Especially given the current economy where real estate sales are sluggish and prices reduced, it is all the more important to build efficiently and to price a project properly.  We know green building is important environmentally, but can it also make sense economically, even in the short term?

Please feel free to leave your comments.  We are hoping our blog will bring an open dialogue and become a resource for all.

Here are a few links to published articles/research on the topic.  The first two require payment, but the website gives basic information about their research.  If anyone has purchased these in the past, perhaps you can share your thoughts with us.

The Green Home Consumer: Driving Demand for Green Homes by McGraw Hill Construction 11/08

Shelton Group - Energy Pulse 2009

Residential Green Building Report - A Market Engagement Framework for Developers and Builders, a thesis project from the University of Michigan, 2007.

Comments

[Lisa and Gary Whitehead]

This input from Camber Construction, Inc. is regarding Christine’s request to analyze projects using the BuildItGreen Green Point Rating guidelines for areas where green features can be added to new homes with little or no additional costs.

The Green Point Rating guidelines are understood to be:

1. Conserving natural resources.
2. Using water and energy wisely.
3. Improving indoor air quality.
4. Planning for livable and vibrant communities.

At Camber Construction, we use a whole-systems approach to construction. We believe in a common-sense approach to green building so that the home will be more beautiful and last longer. Of course, all our jobs use energy-efficient windows and most of our clients use Energy Star appliances and water-efficient products, including low-flow showerheads and water-conserving toilets. A low-cost green design feature that we would recommend is window placement in order to use the sun’s rays to heat the building. A smart landscape design feature that can be used in combination with this idea is to place trees outside the windows, providing shade in the summer months.

Some low-cost green building practices that we at Camber Construction have used and would recommend using will be listed here. At a few of our remodeling jobs, we have used hydronic heating, the use of water as the heat-transfer medium for heating. At one of our jobs in Piedmont, we used fly ash concrete to conserve natural resources and make the concrete more durable. This job in Piedmont also has concrete flooring in the basement as a green alternative to carpet with high off-gassing.

A remodel that we did in Lafayette used foil in the attic as a radiant barrier. We installed the foil in the summer months and it was obvious as we walked from a room with no foil into a room with foil how much difference this makes to keep the heat out of the home. A different remodel in Lafayette used crawlspace moisture management as a strategy to address exterior moisture intrusion under the home.

At a house remodel in Berkeley, we enjoyed doing an energy assessment of the home and a building integrity assessment, including a blower door test to measure the tightness of the home envelope. We also learned a few things about Low-VOC paints and stains at this house.

In our own Camber Office, we have installed carpeting made from renewable resources (wool,) cork flooring, and solar hot water.

Please contact our office at 510-843-3841 with any questions about our green remodels or any new prospects coming up that you would like us to look at.