RERICK In the Pacific Northwest, we’ve been spoiled with abundant and relatively cheap energy. This allowed us to become lackadaisical about our buildings’ energy consumption over the past several decades. Now, with rising energy prices and climate change concerns, building performance has jumped to the top of our aging buildings’ to-do list. Power Myths With active coal plants in Boardman, Ore. and Centralia, Wash., the Pacific Northwest’s clean power reputation is partly a myth. Oregonians still get around 40% of their electricity from coal and only 40% from hydro. Washington utility customers’ electricity is slightly cleaner with only about 17%
Tight construction budgets make it difficult to overcome first cost increases even when coupled with reasonable payback periods. Thankfully, there are a myriad of entities with dollars aimed at encouraging better building practices. These incentives take on a variety of forms, from tax breaks to grants to loans. Seed money is available for new and remodeling projects from large scale commercial all the way down to single family houses. Monies available depend on location, client and project type. Federal and State Incentives Vary Federal incentives in the United States are fairly limited. The U.S. government generally focuses its investments on
Building teams face many key decisions as they begin a project. One relatively new choice, in an official capacity, is whether to make the project “green”. Typically this question comes down to whether or not to seek LEED certification or to pursue some near equivalent without going through the submission and review with GBCI (Green Building Certification Institute). There are pros and cons to both the official and “stealth” green building approaches which must be weighed according to the project’s needs and goals. Related Links: Better Energy Codes: It�s not Rocket Science At only 3,111 certified projects as of June