Do you remember one of the earliest versions of the cell phone that was called a bag phone? The user had to carry around what amounted to a duffel bag full of electronics. It was cumbersome and expensive. But look at cell phones now – they’re small enough to get lost in your pocket, and you can often get them for free.

That progression is similar to what’s happened in green design. The practice of building with sustainability in mind has become so common that building green may result in only a 2 percent increase – or no increase – in building costs. Even when building a platinum-certified facility, a builder’s costs may still only be as much as 20 percent higher than a traditional building.

“In the old days, the payback [for building green] was so long – it was like a 12- or 13-year payback, and it wasn’t worth it,” recalls Dick Shiffer, principal at RNL Design in Denver. “Now, the payback is about two or three years. So much of where the cost savings comes is the long-term operating costs, which far exceeds over the life of the building what the initial construction cost was.”

One of the main reasons it’s less expensive to build green now than in the past, Shiffer explains, is that manufacturers have gotten on board with the concept. The number of products for designers and builders to choose from has increased dramatically, while the prices have not. Eco-friendly carpets, interior finishes and a variety of wood products are among the products easily available.

“It’s one thing to take a conventional building or a building that’s at a certain point in the design and try to add a bunch of gizmos and technologies and finishes to make it a smart building,” says Mel McGowan, president of Visioneering Studios in Irvine, Calif. “But when you’re able to zoom out and rewind and be involved at the initial site analysis, site selection, building placement and solar orientation, that’s where you make some big differences.”

Architect’s Role in Building Green

Architects are thinking about sustainability from the very first step in the design process, Shiffer says. Starting with the site the facility is to be located on, architects then think about building orientation and where good natural light will come from, how the area will be landscaped, how to incorporate native materials into the design, and where public transportation is available among other aspects.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this stuff out,” Shiffer says. “If you go back 150 years ago, we knew how to do it then.” Shiffer cites Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and George Washington’s Mount Vernon as examples. Those historic homes had several elements that are part of the energy-saving movement now: smart site orientation, fireplaces made of brick that retain heat, operable windows strategically placed to take advantage of the evening breeze and natural ventilation.

“We’re getting back to that [concept],” Shiffer declares. “When we developed air conditioning, we locked up our buildings so tight we didn’t get natural ventilation, and now we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get natural air and ventilation into our buildings. All that does is make mechanical systems bigger. Doing all this [energy savings] lets us make mechanical systems smaller and less expensive.”