Buildings, the Energy Gobblers

Buildings of all types in the United States are the largest sources of emissions because of they use so much electricity and water, said Dan Geiger, executive director at the U.S. Green Building Council's Northern California chapter, at Greentech Media's Green Building Summit in the Silicon Valley Thursday.

Buildings account for 72 percent of the electricity use and 14 percent of water nationally.

"We can reduce energy consumption by 20 percent by simply not wasting. By simply stop doing stupid things that are built into our whole infrastructure in a myriad of ways," Geiger said.

A growing number of cities are adopting ordinances requiring building developers or even existing building owners to find ways to reduce power, water and other material usage.

San Francisco has one of the most aggressive policies. About 39 percent of the office buildings in the city, or 49 buildings, have either started the LEED certification process or have been certified, said Geiger, citing a study by real state company CB Richard Ellis. Of those 49 buildings, 35.4 percent have registered for LEED certification and the remaining have been LEED certified.

Making buildings green has tangible business benefits, Geiger said. Well-designed and ventilated buildings that use lots of natural light, for example, make for more attractive offices.

"At the end of the day, it's about business. If it doesn't make money, it's not going to happen," Geiger said.

He referred to a study by the McGraw-Hill Construction that looked at a green building in Melbourne, Australia and found that:

• Billable hours by employees increased by 7 percent.

• Typing performance improved by 49 percent.

• Average sick days per person dropped 39 percent.

• Monthly healthcare costs fell 44 percent.