[IMGCAP(2)]"Our company has 75 million sf of industrial space, and five million of that, 30 buildings, is built to LEED standard," Bill Fisher, project manager of national development for Liberty Property Trust reported. "We believe that LEED is the way of the future, and we believe that buildings that aren't LEED certified will be obsolete."
Andrew Mele, senior vice president of the Northeast regional development and investment group with Trammell Crow Co. agreed, saying that LEED is here to stay and that more green buildings need to be brought to market. The rest of the panel, while they agreed that moving towards green building for industrial was the way to go, advocated keeping an eye on sustainability, rather than just adhering to LEED.
"As a company, we're trying to understand the difference between LEED and sustainability," said Richard Johnson, a partner with Matrix Development Group. "LEED is a measurement tool, but it's not the process. The process is sustainability."
Unfortunately, one major stumbling block to creating sustainable industrial buildings may be the tenants themselves. "Our tenants won't pay extra for green property," said Fisher. He explained that part of the problem lies in a communication disconnect within the tenant companies: the person responsible for leasing space is not the same person who pays the utility bills, so all they see is a higher rent, not the savings at the other end.
"More education needs to take place," said Johnson. "We have to educate tenants about the all-in cost of occupancy. It may be $.05 more per sf in rent, but there are savings in the utility bills.
Fisher and Keith Lesser, a partner with IS&L Architecture Studio, pointed out that utility bills aren't even the greatest savings that can be realized from a green building. Worker productivity has been seen to rise dramatically in greener buildings.
"A green building is a healthy building," said Lesser. "It's a major positive for occupants."
The panelists agreed that the government needs to play a role if significant amounts of green projects are going to come online. "We can't do green building without government help," said Johnson. He praised New Jersey for taking a leadership position regarding sustainability, particularly with its solar energy program, but more can always be done.
Fisher hoped for more incentives to encourage developers to build green.
Johnson pointed out that the approval process is the longest part of any development in New Jersey. He suggested giving sustainable projects preferential treatment, a plan that has already been implemented and met with great success in Chicago.
The government is responding in some ways, according to Lesser; LEED is currently being reviewed, and a revamped system with better weighting will be introduced soon. "Sustainability measures will keep changing," said Johnson. "They'll change in five years, just as they've changed over the past five years. We're in a transitional phase right now."
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