Study: Do Green Buildings Cost More?

The construction industry accounts for 10% of global gross domestic product (GDP) and has both direct and indirect impacts on climate change and the environment. Buildings emit carbon dioxide throughout their life cycle. Thus, using low environmental impact construction materials can significantly reduce the carbon dioxide generated. A green building inflicts minimum impact on the built environment throughout its lifecycle. However, the perception of higher costs for constructing green buildings has become a major obstacle that makes it difficult to encourage stakeholders to adopt green buildings. This barrier can be even more daunting in developing countries (e.g. India). A study led by researchers G.S. Vyas and K.N. Jha (published January 2018) attempts to estimate costs of constructing green buildings confirming to multiple certification levels and present the benefits of green buildings to India. They particularly focus on government buildings in this work. The auhors show that although the construction cost of green buildings is more than that of conventional buildings, the cost premiums are in the range of 2–5% (three stars rating) and 5–17% for five stars rated buildings. The discounted payback period for green buildings is 2.04–7.56 years (three stars) and 2.37–9.14 years (five stars). They found that the Life Cycle Costing (LCC) of green buildings is positive. Would the numbers for other countries and building types be similar or significantly different? Study: Vyas G. S Jha, K N (2018). What does it cost to convert a non-rated building into a green building?. For more information: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210670716304292 (Image:Pixabay)