IS SUSTAINABILITY COSTLY? EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM BUILT PROJECTS

ABSTRACT The affordability of sustainable building remains a significant challenge; developers, building owners, and design teams often point to high construction costs as the primary obstacle hindering the uptake of sustainable building. Because of a lack of clarity, empirical studies and evidence supporting the claim of sustainable building as expensive are inadequate, thus the perceived high cost of sustainable building is still debatable. This study has a three-pronged approach: (1) to collect actual construction costs of certified sustainable buildings, (2) to take a deep dive into construction cost using empirical data and analyze the correlation between the level of sustainability and the construction cost, and (3) to examine the influence of cost components on the total construction cost. Data from 72 LEED buildings was collected and included in the analysis. The findings show the following: (a) the construction costs of the studied sustainable buildings are comparable to those of conventional buildings (even lower); (b) the correlation between the level of sustainability and the construction cost is inconclusive; and (c) soft costs, especially the design cost, have a similar level of influence on the total construction cost as those of hard costs.