Purpose
In Sri Lanka, a limited number of buildings have been certified for incorporation of green features and the reasons are attributed to green building investors who continue to perceive that green buildings are expensive. Further, the green building investors fail to appreciate the subsequent benefits received by those buildings during the operational phase. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to compare the life cycle cost (LCC) of green certified industrial manufacturing buildings with a similar form of the conventional buildings to establish the economic sustainability of green buildings.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involved a comparative case study analysis of two green buildings and a similar natured conventional building. The data required to perform the LCC analysis were extracted through documentary analysis.
Findings
The comparative analysis shows that the construction cost of a green industrial manufacturing building is 37 per cent higher than that of a similar natured conventional building while operation, maintenance and the end life cost of green buildings result in 28, 22 and 11 per cent savings, respectively. This results in an overall cost saving of 21 per cent in green buildings.
Originality/value
The current study provides an assessment of the total LCC of green industrial manufacturing buildings. In Sri Lanka, green industrial manufacturing buildings offer LCC saving of 21 per cent over its lifetime compared to similar natured conventional buildings. Thus, comparative analyses would enable green investors to make informed decisions before commissioning their investment in green facilities and thereby promote sustainable construction in Sri Lanka.
The green buildings seem unattractive to developers who prioritize fast investment returns, due to costs attributed to implementing sustainable features and consequently, only 19% of existing buildings are certified for green, globally. Furthermore, green buildings are aimed at achieving a minimum sustainability level in certification.
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate building managers’ approach towards occupant energy behaviours and rationalises organisational energy culture concerning their strategy to address occupants’ preferences in New Zealand tertiary office buildings.
Design/methodology/approach
The research used grounded theory analysis by interviewing a purposive sample of 25 participants from a university. Also, semi-structured interviews were conducted with facilities managers, sustainability managers and building occupants.
Findings
The study results revealed that building managers oversimplify the multi-domain discomfort, energy impacts from occupant behaviours and the influence of social-psychology aspects on occupants’ actions. The organisational energy culture can be further improved by increasing occupants’ knowledge and awareness of energy, sharing energy feedback with occupants to make energy conscious occupants and giving them responsibilities to achieve the organisation’s energy targets.
Originality/value
This study enables opportunities to promote collaboration between building managers and occupants by comparing perspectives on occupant energy impacts.
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