Costs and Benefits Analysis of LEED Building Projects

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Costs and Benefits Analysis of LEED Building Projects

As the environmental problems become more and more serious these years, especially that intense negative impact that buildings in modern cities bring to the cities, the concept of Green Building is being more and more important considered by local and federal government. According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a green building is one that utilizes design and construction practices that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environment and the building's occupants. Besides the more and more advanced building structure and technology, the main goal of green building is to protect the health of the occupants, save energy and reduce pollution to environment. There are many certifications of green buildings to judge whether the building meets the standard of green buildings and what environmental performance level is this building at, to help government regulators, building professionals and consumers to see better how this building can be improved and what is its impact on human beings and environment. Such green building programs include Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB Green), etc. Among them, LEED is one of the most popular certification programs that give the building credits for its environmental performance. In this essay, I will discuss the costs and benefits of different types of building projects that were certified by LEED.

“LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is transforming the way we think about how our buildings and communities are designed, constructed, maintained and o...

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...egies and LEED certification, the costs of the building can actually offset by the benefits, because of the large energy saving and the positive externalities. The concept of Green building cannot be limited by one by one individual cases. For the whole society’s well-being, the concept of Green Building should be extended to the concept of Green City, just like mayor of Chicago claims, the “green city” is the future of modern cities, to achieve the goal of “green city”, we need to start with green buildings. To encourage more and more residents to support green buildings, buy green buildings and apply the environmental friendly habits in their daily life, the existing Green Building projects have the responsibility to express its “green” to more people and also the green building program such as LEED need to do more in conducting the idea of Green Building.

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