Costs of Not Using Green Design in the USAF: Would Using Green Building Design Have Resulted in Life Cycle Cost

摘要

This study's purpose is to determine if using green building design would have resulted in life cycle costs savings for the United States Air Force. Green designs are those that employ steps to mitigate the impacts facilities have on the environment by using resources more efficiently than conventional design. The prevailing ranking system for green design in the United States is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) which evaluates facilities on certain characteristics, assigning certain point values that translate to non-certified, certified, silver, gold, or platinum ratings. The author attempts here to show how previous studies indicated the presence of construction cost premiums, savings in operating costs and environmental benefits from green design. The literature review also shows the extent the Air Force and Department of Defense have incorporated green building standards into current policy. After performing an analysis of Air Force building data, this study suggests that deciding to build green would not pay for itself based off of energy and environmental benefits alone.