Sustainable Buildings: Where Are The Savings?

One of the most important advantages of sustainable buildings is the ability to maximize energy efficiency while decreasing costs. Traditional construction strategies focus on initial construction cost while ignoring the cost of the structure long-term in both environmental and monetary impact. There is now a requirement and responsibility in construction to not only reduce initial costs but also maintain long-term economic and environmental performance.

Renewable energy technologies are the solution to rising energy costs. Through an initial investment, there are considerable savings in operational and maintenance phases. This can be seen in decisions like: 

• strategic use of buildings finishes that do not require repainting
• additional energy to reduce utilities costs over the lifespan of the panel
• use of biofuel and a transition of kitchen waste to biogas for cooking

ENERGY EFFICIENCY LIFECYCLE

Throughout the lifecycle of a sustainable building, like CABN, there are three lifecycle costs that are critical to the project:

Initial Cost

Initial costs are also known as development cost and acquisition cost. This cost includes the creation, renovation, building acquisition, consultation, materials, and completion costs.

Cost in use

Cost in use is known as operating cost and running cost. This cost is determined by the choices made at the initial stage leading to decisions taken at the manufacturing and application process.

Recovery cost

Recovery costs the cost of reusing materials or the demolition of the building but it is often overlooked however, it contributes to the life cycle cost.