New Approaches to Green Building Challenge Conventional Thinking, Offered for Free to Government

PHOENIX-(Business Wire)-September 9, 2009 - Global property and construction consultant Rider Levett Bucknall is challenging building owners and government officials to rethink their approach to green building practices. While many owners have embraced sustainable design standards such as LEED, BREEAM and Green Star, they deal with only part of what is a much larger problem.

“When considering a new construction project, the real question should be: Why are we using finite resources? What are the alternatives?” said Julian Anderson, president of Rider Levett Bucknall. “We are entering a new ‘Age of Environmental Thrift,’ where the real focus is preventing waste by making better use and extending the life of existing assets.”

To that end, Rider Levett Bucknall is offering free training on new environmental initiatives to government entities. These programs can provide considerable cost and environmental impact savings for public projects by making better use of resources. The programs include:

RElifing® – this mathematical model looks at the useful lifespan of an aging building and helps the owner determine whether to renovate, modify or build new. Significant natural resources can be saved by capturing the remaining value and extending the life of a building rather than demolishing and replacing it.
Life Cycle Cost + Carbon Modeling – this tool enables owners to develop facilities that are cost-effective to build out, operationally efficient and support sustainability initiatives. The model can calculate the carbon footprint, energy and water consumption of a building, giving a true indication of its environmental impact.
Building Quality Assessment – this standardized method for evaluating a building’s quality encompasses 31 criteria and results in a “quality grade,” along with recommendations for improvements and identification of areas of deficiency.

Considerable Cost Savings for Owners and Government

Several years ago, RElifing® studies were conducted on 80 buildings within Arizona, including those for the Arizona Department of Administration, the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections, Arizona State Hospitals and the Arizona School Facilities Board. Using RElifing® saved Arizona taxpayers $26 million in the first six months alone. Based on its overwhelming success, the state of Arizona now requires all funding requests for facility renovations or replacement buildings greater than 25,000 square feet be supported by a building life extension study.

“RElifing® addresses a unique need in an era when state budgets are being slashed,” said Anderson. “It has the potential to save considerable sums for any government entity or private institutional owner who wishes to use it, while also laying the groundwork for a sustainable development approach to meet ongoing infrastructure needs. We are happy to do our part to address these challenging times by offering training on our RElifing® and Life Cycle Cost and Carbon Modeling for free to government entities.”

Lake Washington School District Sees Millions in Savings

For the past two years, Rider Levett Bucknall has been working with the Lake Washington School District to develop a Life Cycle Cost model for its bond planning. Using data from several schools that have been recently constructed, the model indicated that by investing $2.1 million in capital expenditures, $25 million over the 50-year life cycle of the property could be saved. When applied to determine design decisions for future schools, this could result in a savings of $650 million for the district in operational, maintenance and replacement costs over the same 50-year period.

Other educational institutions that have turned to Rider Levett Bucknall’s RElifing® and Life Cycle Cost analysis include Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona.

For more information about these services, visit www.rlb.com/life. For government entities that wish to sign up for free training sessions, send an email to GiftofLife@us.rlb.com.

About Rider Levett Bucknall

Rider Levett Bucknall offers independent, unbiased expert advice on all matters relating to the management of the cost and time of construction. As one of the largest global practices for property and construction consulting, the company consists of 2,000 professionals in 80 offices around the globe, serving the four regions of the Americas, Asia, Oceania, and EMEA. Utilizing its vast experience, professionally trained employees and pooled intellectual property across offices, the company provides cost management, project management and advisory services for a multitude of clients at the local, regional, and multinational levels. For more information, visit www.rlb.com.

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