Counseling green

200 Market Street in Portland is the nation’s first LEED-EB Gold building.

It’s a familiar scene at the end of a board meeting or all-company retreat. The CEO chants, “Let’s go green,” “Let’s cut down to Zero Waste,” Let’s go for LEED Platinum!” Yet commitments made at such events are not always the most well-thought-through or most sound business decisions.


Today’s U.S. business owners considering investing in green buildings are way more equipped than the early pioneers of the industry. Numerous studies have attempted to evaluate the return on investment of high performance buildings, as well as the positive impacts of such buildings on human health, the environment and climate change. An oft-sited 2008 Co-Star study that looked at 1,700 buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, showed that LEED-certified buildings garner rent premiums of $11.24 per square foot more than conventionally built buildings. They also have a 3.8 percent higher occupancy rate.

Even so, numerous questions and concerns arise when a business owner—a developer, building owner or tenant—decides to invest in a green building project. Putting in a few calls to lawyers, accountants, insurance brokers—even real estate brokers—before hiring a design team could save a lot of time, frustration and money.

Following are tips from some of the West Coast’s most experienced experts in law, accounting, insurance and real estate about things to consider before building green (Editor’s Note: Sign up for our Green Building Newsletter to receive a much more in-depth analysis from the experts. Go to www.sustainableindustries.com/newsletter).

Legal counsel
“The most common mistake that both building owners and tenants make is deciding to pursue LEED certification after the fact,” says Aleka Skouras Eisentraut, a lawyer at San Francisco-based Wendel Rosen Black and Dean. “Green building is most efficient—and least expensive—when it is incorporated into the building design documents and process from day one.”

Eric Grasberger, a lawyer at Portland-based Stoel Rives, says once a design team is assembled, it’s important to designate a “single point of responsibility” if problems arise.