Summary article from Tierra Grande – October 2013 issue.

 

 LEED CERTIFIED BUILDING – Using Green Architecture

Is LEED  certified building construction the standard for new development? There was a perception that a green building with LEED certified standards were too expensive to develop in the past .  Typically the LEED building or green building costs about 1.5 times the normal cost of a non green building. It takes approximately 3 to 5 years to recoup the costs to construct a green building.

Initially, there was a lot of apprehension for the development of LEED certified buildings until Hines Development out of Houston, Texas decided to announce they would develop all of their projects as green or LEED certified buildings from now on. Once a major developer like Hines took the lead, the rest of the developers started to follow. Hines and JP Morgan Asset Management announced the construction of a 415,000 square foot “Net-Zero” building.

NET ZERO OFFICE SPACE

Net Zero is defined as an commercial real estate property  that will create as much energy as it consumes.  Net Zero office buildings use on site fuel cells using solar thermal energy that will generate more electricity than the building will use during the year.  This energy management system takes the surplus electricity which is then fed back into the grid and credited against the office spaces and building energy charges.

 Commercial real estate particularly the office and retail sectors are adopting the LEED certified or green type buildings. Despite the higher costs, owners and tenants are reaping rewards the rewards in the form of lower vacancies, attracting young talent and higher resale values of the commercial real estate property in the future.

 

SUSTAINABLE BUILDING

Estimated return on investment for the fuel cells from Hines is approximately five to six years. The office building to be built in California will also qualify for financial incentives offered by the California Public Utility Commission.  The office property will also incorporate a number of energy management system design features such as under floor air distribution, efficient water chilled usage, triple pane windows and state of the art controls in place.

Once the Net Zero office project is completed, Hines plans to implement what is learned from their project in San Diego to existing office buildings and adapting LEED certified building standards.