Eco Brooklyn recently obtained a copy of McGraw Hill’s Green Building: Square Foot Costbook 2012. Construction cost data books are intended for use by planners and builders who would like to get a quick, rough idea of how much a job might cost.
I think it’s pretty cool that green building is at a point where resources like this are being published, making it easier for conventional builders to consider getting into more sustainable practices. The book only offers a few dozen individual case studies, but this is still valuable information – when you consider that not knowing what costs to expect scares many builders away from switching to green. Or what also happens is the contractor overbids on the job to cover the unknowns, thus making it too expensive.
To some, green building is still some mysterious high technology developed by experts that people would purchase if only it wasn’t so darned expensive. On the other hand, as a New York green contractor, we feel green building is a common sense, affordable approach toward radical efficiency, developed side-by-side with an informed client. In short, it isn’t complicated or expensive.
McGraw Hill’s Green Building: Square Foot Costbook 2012 helps people understand this by putting numbers to the jobs, lifting the veil of mystery over what something should cost.
We want to see the green building industry grow not only in demand but also in supply. Our goal is to turn NY green, which is part of our thinking globally and acting locally strategy. So more green building companies may mean more competition but it also means a greener NY, which is what we really care about.
The demand is there so we don’t worry about there being enough business.
Hopefully this book will help non-green contractors be more confident on bidding on green jobs. The more of us there are working towards a greener world only helps Eco Brooklyn further our goals of sound ecology and social justice.
