Building Smarter For Sustainability & Value

Architects and builders have always given careful consideration to materials, energy use, work practices and the suitability of location when designing and constructing buildings. What is different about today’s green building movement is that it takes a systematic approach to optimizing the efficiency of resource usage—materials, energy, water, etc.—while creating spaces that provide healthier environments in which to work and live. Green building principles are realized through utilization of natural lighting, proportionally designed HVAC systems, landscaping that incorporates native vegetation, solar and photovoltaic energy sources when suitable, reuse and recycling of building materials, and many other practices.

Always mindful of the environment and our clients’ economic interests, Hathaway Dinwiddie fully embraces the green building approach. Building green is smart. In fact, we have found that our building clients and the ultimate beneficiaries of our services—building occupants—can expect to derive a host of advantages and benefits through the application of smart green principles. According to a fact sheet compiled by the U.S. Green Building Council, these benefits include:

Cost Savings

Upfront investment of 2% in green building design results, on average, in life cycle savings of 20% of the total construction costs—more than ten times the initial investment.
Tenants can save about 50 cents per square foot each year through strategies that cut energy use by 30%. This can represent a savings of $50,000 or more in a five-year lease on 20,000 square feet.
Sales in retail stores with skylights were up to 40% higher compared to similar stores without skylights.

Productivity

The relationship between increased lighting control and productivity showed an average increase of 7.1% in productivity.
Average employee relocation within a building averages 25% annually for most commercial spaces at a cost of about $2,500 each. Flexible design features often found in integrated green buildings can help cut employee relocation costs by 90%.
Average annualized costs for personnel amount to $200 per square foot, compared to $20 for bricks and mortar costs and $2 for energy costs.