The Costs and Benefits of High-Performance Buildings: Lessons Learned

edited by Pamela Lippe, 2004. Published by Earth Day New York, 201 E. 42nd Street, Suite 3200, New York, NY 10017, www.earthdayny.org. Paperback, 136 pages, $25.

The Costs and Benefits of High Performance Buildings is the third in Earth Day New York’s

Lessons Learned series. Like the previous collections,

Four Times Square and

High Performance Buildings (see

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 1), this resource is organized like a magazine, with advertisements interspersed throughout. Unlike the previous offerings, however, this one is focused on the financial aspects of green building. “The challenge is no longer simply breaking into the marketplace,” according to Lippe. “The focus is on making it cost-effective.”

The book establishes the economic case for green building with excerpts from “The Costs and Financial Benefits of High Performance Buildings,” by Greg Kats at Capital E (see

EBN Vol. 12, No. 11); “Costing Green: A Comprehensive Cost Database and Budgeting Methodology,” by Lisa Fay Matthiessen and Peter Morris of Davis Langdon Adamson (see

EBN Vol. 13, No. 8); and the study of LEED

^® costs for the U.S. General Services Administration, led by John Amatruda of Steven Winter Associates, Inc. (see

EBN

Vol. 13, No. 12).

Next, the book delves into the market for high-performance buildings, with reports on long-term competitive value, using public policy to effect change in the marketplace, and looking ahead to the possibility of regenerative design. Further sections of the book showcase green strategies at work in completed office, institutional, and residential projects. Sections on high-performance systems and construction practices cover topics ranging from combined heat and power systems and green roofs to environmentally responsible demolition and how to avoid mold growth through good construction and maintenance practices. Finally, a chapter on tools and resources points readers to recommended further reading. This book combines a taste of the

how with the financial

why of green building, and the result is an approachable, enjoyable, informative read.

– JB