Visakha

Green design is getting a lot of ink these days, as it should; environmentally-conscious building has gone mainstream and that means more structures worldwide are built with ecological issues in mind. That includes commercial and industrial buildings, those belonging to institutions like the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and of course private homes and multifamily buildings. That’s great news for the environment and the building trades, but what about your wallet?

The thing that often stands out about green design beyond its obvious environmental benefits and frequent aesthetic appeal is the high price tag. Sometimes it feels like these buildings are unattainable for ordinary people when you sit down and price out a project, or when the writeup of an amazing building is polite enough to include information about costs. That’s a big problem, because being ecologically sustainable should be economically affordable so it will be accessible to everyone!