Raising Number Of Sustainable Developments Drives the Cost DownWhen it comes to making a new building or house more environmentally-friendly, discussion often focuses on the added costs of energy-efficient technology, even if the long-term energy savings more than pay for those costs. But such arguments may soon be moot as the upfront costs of sustainability continue to tumble."Traditionally, we have expected to pay up to five per cent more to build a building to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards than a conventional building," says Jolie Whetzel, managing partner of Whetzel Environomics in Edmonton. "Over time, that has come down and as we've gained experience in building green buildings, we're even seeing lower capital costs on some projects where all the right conditions are in place." Access to design teams and tradespeople experienced in green building projects and access to locally-sourced materials are key factors in bringing sustainable building costs down, as more LEED projects get built around the province. "It is reasonable to expect a similar learning experience and related cost curve as we start implementing green communities in Alberta," Whetzel says. "People think of LEED as an environmental rating system, when it's actually a market transformation system. It's a way to help people shift from making incremental decisions to integrating their design efforts and working together in a different way than they're accustomed to." Whetzel advises her clients to think beyond decisions that are "less bad" for the environment towards ones that are actually "good". The challenge of striving for exceptional results in environmental performance brings lots of new strategies and technologies to a design. "Our traditional economy is about increasing efficiency and doing things that are less expensive in the short term. Thus environmental, social and economic impacts are usually considered independently and with very short time horizons," she says. "If we look at the triple bottom-line, we take a more long-term, complete, comprehensive, honest view." Often, unexpected benefits are realized by this approach, including improved community health and increased worker morale and productivity. "Benefits like reduced energy and water use and clean air environment are easy to measure," Whetzel says. "But when they result in a one- or two-per cent improvement in worker or student productivity, that will trump any other potential benefit in no time." 
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