Sustainable building is a topic I think we write quite a bit about here at the Vancouver Business Journal. We don’t do it to be part of the green fad – I’m not that stylish.
It’s top of mind because it’s what a lot of you are talking about. It’s also what a lot of commercial builders are doing.
It has been impressive to watch the number of commercial projects that are being built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building standards increase in this area – whether project owners are willing to fork out the money for certification or not.
Those public projects out there don’t really have a choice. Washington requires that all buildings built with public funds earn LEED silver distinction.
I’d venture to say it has become mainstream to at least consider green features in commercial projects. But it seems to me that the next question to answer is whether sustainable building pays off for the rest of us.
Reporter Charity Thompson profiled a new project on the front page that seeks to do this very thing. The project – which just happens to be Vancouver City Councilman Tim Leavitt’s future home – will explore all kinds of issues related to green building.
For instance what are the actual up-front costs? What is the pay-off? What issues pop up along the way? Can it be attractive? What’s the resale value? Does anybody care?
It’s nice to see a public figure using his position in the community to help bring more attention to the issue. And in the next year, the VBJ will be following the project’s progression closely, to explore all sides of the issue.
Because to make an impact, sustainability has to be mainstream – and the media is an excellent way to make it so. It’s got to be the norm for residential developers and individual home builders to consider green features, for all of our sakes.
