Buildings and construction represent nearly 40% of global carbon emissions. Although the environmental benefits of green buildings seem indisputable, do the upfront costs make economic sense?

In their paper “The Price of Innovation: An Analysis of the Marginal Cost of Green Buildings,” Lab Director Dr. Andrea Chegut and co-authors Piet Eichholtz and Nils Kok maintain that building green provides overall financial value. The data concludes that green-certified buildings not only sell and rent at slightly higher prices than standard buildings, but they also have higher occupancy rates. Knowledge Director Maya Fischhoff details the evidence to support this, as well as some of the obstacles involved with green building in her recent article for NBS.