A Review of Values of Green Building at Building and City Scales

Abstract

Green Building is the term used for the buildings characterized by a higher energy and water efficiency, a lower use of natural resources and materials compared to the conventional buildings and an improvement in the health and comfort of the living environment. Since this building concept primarily focuses more on the ecological and the social factors, within the three aspects of a sustainable development, the economic benefits of Green Building are less discussed despite their presence. Therefore, this paper aims to look for the various values of Green Buildings at building and city levels through a summary of relevant secondary data. At the building level, in comparison with the conventional buildings, the values of Green Building are obtained from a saving of operation cost, a larger return compared to the initial cost, a shorter payback period, a higher property value, a higher transaction, rental and occupancy rate as well as an improvement in the occupants' health and productivity. At the city level, their values reflect through a lower demand for the urban technical infrastructure capacity, market expansion, job creation and higher tax collection possibilities. Since these values are gained through various ways, this paper indicates the positive relations between environmental and economic benefits at both building and city scale. By these findings, it contributes to the emerging literature on the benefits of Green Building that helps to promote further the development of Green Building in the future.