Benefits of Sustainable Building for Architects, Designers, and Construction Firms
16 February 2007If you’re in the residential sector, what’s in it for you?
Embracing sustainability now is a powerful means for architects, designers and construction firms to differentiate themselves from competitors in the future. As energy costs rise and homeowners become aware of the savings and lifestyle gains of sustainable living, those businesses and service providers with experience in sustainable design and construction will reap the benefits of being leaders in their field.
Benefits of sustainability for the residential industry
- Improved client satisfaction and further business opportunities
- Achieving a point of difference over competitors
- Building perception as ‘intelligent’ company with opportunities to charge a premium, based on the intellectual property of the business
- Enabling the service provider to save the occupier money on an ongoing basis – in considering their longerterm financial as well as their physical wellbeing
- Lower charges through less construction waste going to landfill
- Lower compliance costs through improved health and safety on site
- Greater recruitment and retention of best workers and graduates
Understanding environmental principles is simply smart business. It is the way the market is heading, it is what customers will increasingly demand and, as a result, it will become an increasing commercial disadvantage not to be familiar with sustainable practices.
Of course, it’s not all about dollars and cents. An exciting aspect of the move to sustainable building is that those in the residential industry – from the product developers through to the specifiers and builders – can make a major difference to the environment and to our futures. This is the social capital to match the financial capital benefits.
In the final analysis, it’s about providing safer, better quality homes that are affordable, and enabling communities to use fewer resources. And just as the quality of a community is also enhanced by greater financial sustainability, environmentally sustainable products and practices will save homeowners money in the future.
To read the entire article from Beacon Pathways, please click here.