In five years, all buildings -- new and existing -- will be green

May 23, 2007
by Randyl Drummer

"The takeaway from the (Chicago 2007) ULI conference was that we’re at a tipping point," Lord said. "In five years, all buildings -- new and existing -- will be green. Unlike new construction, the greening of existing buildings has to be implemented by the building property management team. New green buildings are about design and construction. Existing green buildings are about operations."

The average building certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program uses 32% less electricity, 26% less natural gas and 36% less total energy. LEED-certified buildings in the U.S. are reducing CO2 emissions by 150,000 metric tons each year -- equal to taking 30,000 passenger cars off the road. Yet the vast majority of the 715 buildings and tenant spaces certified under the LEED program in the U.S. are new construction. Only about 50 are existing buildings.

Source: http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx?id=59F5177C83639C28FF1697AF358BE671