SUSTAINABLE DESIGN IMPROVES THE VALUE

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN IMPROVES THE VALUE
OF BUILDINGS
In addition to reduced construction, operating, and maintenance costs,
sustainable design produces buildings that are more valuable to owners
and occupants. As a rule of thumb, reductions in annual operating costs
can be multiplied by 10 (capitalization rate) to estimate increased building
value.
While some of the benefits can be easily quantified, others are more
qualitative. Sustainable design features tend to produce a better indoor
environment that improves productivity and employee retention.
Improved indoor air quality reduces the risk of future liability and also
contributes to productivity. Finally, the buildings are easier to lease and
sell because they are generally viewed very positively by the market.
IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY
Anecdotally, there is little question that users prefer buildings designed
with sustainable attributes. Daylight, views to the exterior, personal
temperature and lighting controls, fresh air—ideally with operable windows—
and improved indoor air quality are almost universally requested
by users regardless of building type, size, or location. When given
these things, they universally respond positively. The connection
between sustainable building design, user satisfaction, and increases in
productivity seems to be a logical conclusion.
Thankfully, there is a growing body of evidence that supports the
anecdotal evidence. For example, a study by the Heschong Mahone
Group compared classrooms with daylight versus classrooms without
daylight in three different California schools. Children in daylit classrooms
performed up to 20 percent better than those without daylit classrooms.
Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Building Performance
and Diagnostics compared numerous productivity studies. Fifteen studies
found productivity increases from 0.48 percent to 11 percent with
improved ventilation alone. Access to a natural environment produced
increased productivity from 0.4 percent to 18 percent. Additional studies
reported significant lower health complaints with proximity to windows.
The new ASHRAE Adaptive Comfort Standard is based on studies
that show that users will not only tolerate a wider temperature range
in their working environment if they have operable windows but actually
prefer it.
Introduction 11
DID YOU KNOW. . . ?
What is the most cost-effective,
environmentally benign
new energy source? Ceiling
insulation and double-glazed
windows can produce [by saving]
more oil than the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge at its
most optimistic projections, at
about one-twentieth the cost.
—Paul Hawken, The Ecology of
Commerce (New York:
HarperCollins, 1993), 171–79.
EXAMPLE
12 The HOK Guidebook to Sustainable Design
• San Mateo: The Center for the Built Environment (CBE) occupant satisfaction
survey at the San Mateo Forensics Laboratory showed overall very high occupant
satisfaction, with air quality in all spaces significantly higher than the
CBE average. A large majority of users surveyed stated that the air quality
enhanced their ability to get work done. These results indicate that the goals
of a “great place to work” are being met along with environmental goals.