XML FeedsFORTUNE Highlights Corporate Green-Building Achievements
By CostBenefit on Mar 21, 2006 | In Green Buildings, Newspaper/Mag/TV/Media Story, Savings
Link: http://www.earthvision.net/ColdFusion/News_Page1.cfm?NewsID=30651
FORTUNE magazine's March 20 issue, currently on newsstands and viewable online, includes a special advertising feature outlining how green building practices are proving an important component of improved corporate performance. Titled "Building a Greener Future" the article details the green-building efforts of major companies, from manufacturing giants such as Ford and GM to financial powerhouses such as Bank of America to technology superstars such as Adobe. "We're finding strong traction in the owner community -- both public and private -- because of the pure financial gains that accompany a decision to build a green building," says Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council, who spearheaded the section. "Green buildings provide operational performance, environmental sensitivity and improved health for their occupants. It's a triple bottom line great companies can relate to." "We can safely say that green buildings are no longer a fad, but rather an increasingly important new way of doing business," said Harvey Bernstein, Vice President, Industry Analytics and Alliances, for McGraw Hill Construction. The McGraw-Hill Smart Market report, released in November 2005, noted that green buildings comprise about 2% of the new nonresidential construction market, and that by 2010 that figure will rise to between 5% and 10%. Driving that growth are the 8%-9% decrease in overall building operating costs, increase in building values of about 7.5%, occupancy ratios that are about 3.5% higher, rent ratios that are anticipated to be about 3% higher, and an overall ROI improvement of about 6.6%. Today more than a half-billion square feet of commercial space has been certified as green through the USGBC's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System, a voluntary third-party rating system where building projects earn credits for satisfying specified green building criteria. ... FOR FULL STORY GO TO: http://www.earthvision.net/ColdFusion/News_Page1.cfm?NewsID=30651 GreenBiz.com via EarthVision.net www.earthvision.net| « Shades of green: Cuts killed some environmental advances at new Lincoln school, but not all | Phelps Dodge Adds $300M to Cleanup Fund » |
