Measuring Sustainable Development: An Initial Investigation

1. Measuring Sustainable Development: An Initial Investigation John Goering, Ph.D. CUNY: Baruch College and the Graduate Center and Alice Cook Director of Sustainability Time Equities Inc Presented at the APPAM - KDI Conference “Environmental Policy & Teaching” Seoul, South Korea June 13, 2009

2. Outline of Presentation • Brief case studies of new and existing buildings: differing goals for `Green’ development • Assess current research evidence on costs & outcomes • Outline constraints on further green building

3. Alternative US `Green’ Rating Formats • Energy Star: US Department of the Environment (1992) • LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Certification: US Green Building Council (1998 -) • NAHB: Green Home Bldg. Guidelines (single family; 2005) • Ad Hoc: case specific- no rating

4. Case Study 1: The Durst Organization’s Bank of America Building • Durst Organization began:1915 • 4 green buildings; “The most environmentally responsible building ever.” • 2.1 million square feet co-built with BofA • Class A office LEED Platinum; almost fully built & occupied: $175 sq ft rents • Goal: Reduce water & energy consumption: 50%

9. Case 2: Time Equities: Existing Buildings • Focus on global warming and long-term plan for converting stock • Created Director of Sustainability office: 2007 • Initial energy audits – building mod plans • Capital commitment + incentives • Register LEED Portfolio • Require 2-year payback

10. 223 W. 10th NY audit: not funded

11. Energy Retrofit Results ___________________ 4200 Boulevard Saint-Laurent Montreal, QC Canada

12. Time Equities’ 4200 St. Laurent

13. 4200 St Laurent

14. Case 3: Building Affordably & Sustainably • Affordable housing developers & multiple layers of uncertain financing • Focus on green building before LEED • Use of low-cost brownfield sites • Focus on energy savings for tenants/owners • South Bronx cases: Non-profit: WHEDCo; For-profit: Jonathan Rose

15. SHADES OF GREEN • “Foyer” Building • 46 units • Studios for young adults aging out • of foster care. • On-site vocational, educational, and • training programs • On-site case management and 24/7 • security • Urban Horizons II • 128 units • One-, two- and three-bedrooms • Affordable to families making 60% of area median income • 30% of units for formerly homeless families • Commercial storefronts along first floor • 37 underground parking spaces Source: Edelman Sultan Knox & Wood Architects

16. WHEDCo’s “Saving Urban Horizons”Goal: Well maintained and affordable Energy Upgrades (opened 1997) •Low-flow shower heads & faucet •Motion-sensitive lighting •LED exit signs •Weather-stripped entrances Planned (unfunded): Energy Star refrigerators •CFL bulbs •Photovoltaic roof panels •Green roof

19. Evaluation Measurement Issues • No independent evaluations of full set of costs and benefits • Limited cost & return data; small sample sizes • Difficult to obtain data on effective rents & concessions • Hard to get long-term data on productivity & health impacts of ratings • 2008-2009 research results disagree on core findings

20. LEED Bldg Rental Rate Differentials

21. LEED Sales Price Differentials

22. Research on Economic Impacts of LEED and Energy Star Rated US Office Buildings

23. Related Research Evidence • Marginal cost to develop - except Platinum • 20-35% reductions in energy costs; long-term uncertain • Higher occupancy possible (McCormick 2008) • Productivity improvements of 18%; reductions of absenteeism up to 71% but unlinked to rating systems (Loftness)

24. Constraints on the Evolution of Green Building • Limited research evidence & data • Unclear how to go to scale (building codes/House Energy Bill 2009) • Uncertain popular support for sustainability • How fast will prices drop & evolving green technology? • Flawed ratings systems • Weak links to smart growth planning • Weak link of social equity

25. LEED: Flawed tool or necessary harbinger? • Is LEED capturing essential elements of sustainability – can it do better? • Will standards to change to enable inclusiveness? • Will it become less time consuming and costly? • “More Daunting than a Private School Application” • Will there be funding & TA to assist developers? • How & when will it grow to full scale?

26. Small Universe of Green “An infinitesimal percentage of US Buildings are Green” CoStar 2008

28. What Green Building is not, yet • Not in all building codes • Not yet large scale urban development planning • But Shanghai’s Dongtan Island; SWECo; LEED ND; Clinton Climate Change demos • Large scale tax policy and agency funded • Inclusive: with planned provisions for affordability • Not yet measured internationally • but recent MOU LEED; BREEAM; Green Star • Not yet sociologically and economically feasible

29. But, it’s begun well • Despite disconnect between research and developers, the latter will proceed to adapt their buildings as markets permit • There may be important legislative changes • Researchers have begun to measure important outcomes • There is evidence that it saves money & energy • Affordable housing developers will continue to fight for a piece of this action

30. Questions? THANKS – Comments & Questions?