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Turner Green Building Survey Reveals Increased Interest for Schools

Turner Construction Company, a subsidiary of The Turner Corporation, a leading general builder, announced the findings of its survey of 665 building owners, developers, architects, engineers, corporate owner- occupants consultants and educational institutions on Green building issues. Similar to the survey conducted in 2004, the 2005 Market Barometer again took a snapshot of the views of senior executives on the benefits and costs of Green buildings. However, this year’s survey placed a special focus on Green educational facilities – both K-12 and higher educational facilities. The self-administered survey was conducted over the Internet by Bayer Consulting from August 12-26, 2005. For the purposes of the survey, Green buildings were defined as buildings which use design and construction practices to significantly reduce or eliminate negative effects on the environment and occupants. More K-12 school districts and higher educational institutions are recognizing that Green facilities provide a more effective learning environment. The interest in Green educational facilities is part of a broader recognition of the critical importance of the physical environment to the health and performance of students and teachers. Large percentages of executives at organizations involved with Green K-12 facilities rated them more highly than traditional facilities on a range of […]

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ICF Consulting Recommends Rebuilding U.S. Gulf Coast to Energy-Efficient Standards

ICF Consulting released an issue paper titled, Rebuilding After Katrina: Smart Energy Choices, analyzing energy efficiency rebuild options for the reconstruction of hundreds of thousands of homes in the U.S. Gulf Coast region destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. In the analysis, the company modeled different levels of energy efficiency using DOE-2 software, for 60,000 separate runs for a wide variety of single family homes in two climate zones. They then compared the impacts of a mass reconstruction built to minimum building codes (as a baseline for comparison) versus four increasingly more energy-efficient standards. The ICF Consulting analysis demonstrates the importance of including energy efficiency criteria in any rebuild specifications. Two scenarios in particular showed promise. First, a “quick payback” scenario illustrates that a US$200 million incremental investment in energy efficiency in 310,000 destroyed homes will pay for itself in just over two years. In an even more attractive, long-term investment scenario, rebuilding those homes to the 2006 ENERGY STAR scenario will have a payback of just 7.5 years and will save nearly $2.5 billion in the following 20 years if energy prices stay constant. If energy prices rise, the savings will be even higher. With a 30-year mortgage, homeowners immediately receive […]

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