Cost premiums for green buildings in Qatar

The aim of this paper is to start a conversation about the cost premium for green buildings in Qatar. It examines what Qatar has achieved over the last decade and explores the root cause of green building cost premiums, why they exist, what can we do about them, and why should we accept them. For the purposes of this paper, the term green building specifically refers to buildings pursuing certification under USGBC's “LEED” or GORD's “GSAS” rating system, which are most commonly used in Qatar. However, lower oil prices have led to tighter spending and a greater focus on value engineering and cost savings. It is assumed that the environmental benefits of green buildings are understood and taken as given. Accordingly, here we aim to shift the conversation toward how to maximize value from implementing green building rating systems. We analyze the costs and benefits of the main GB rating systems currently used in Qatar, such as GSAS and LEED. By identifying the costs of constructing a green building, in this ...