Return on Investment

Links to an external site.

"If you want creativity, take a zero off your budget. If you want sustainability, take off two zeros." - Jamie Lerner

"Business is the force of change. Business is essential to solving the climate crisis, because this is what business is best at: innovating, changing, addressing risks, searching for opportunities. There is no more vital task ." - Richard Branson

"We have an economy that tells us it is cheaper to destroy earth in real time rather than renew, restore, and sustain it. You can print money to bail out a bank but you can't print life to bail out a planet." - Paul Hawken

Learning objectives

• See, through real-world examples, how our industry can make big contributions to the economy and sustainability.  
• Examine the business case for sustainable retrofits. 

Agenda

• Read Connecting Retorfits to ROI
• Read and Watch about Integrated Project Delivery
• Complete Cost-benefit Analysis 

Connecting Retrofits to Return on Investment

The last two classes we have discussed urban sprawl and adaptive reuse. The difference between these are that adaptive ruse is not just about suburban areas but also about the city. This video helps explain how we can remake the cities we live in and it does not require a big budget, in fact, and Jamie Lerner argues more creative solution come when you cut the budget. Watch Jamie Lerner's presentation A song of the city - http://www.ted.com/talks/jaime_lerner_sings_of_the_city?language=en Links to an external site.. 

Why Integrated Project Delivery is Crucial to Real ROI

Jamie Lerner talks about solutions at the city scale that are possible with a limited budget. These types of solutions are also possible for buildings. Integrated project delivery is a type of design process that encourages synergistic solutions. Watch this video from Rocky Mountain Institute about performance by design.

Link  Links to an external site.

Return on Investment 

How do we develop similar solutions as the ones developed by the RMI team for existing buildings? Much of our infrastructure including buildings are already built. To recognize a future with less CO2 emissions will require adapting and retrofitting existing buildings. You job is to come up with possible solutions. 

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Work individually to perform a cost-benefit analysis for energy retrofitting Patton Hall. What upgrades would you select? What are the costs associated with these upgrades? What economic, social, environmental benefits are provided?  

Energy retrofit examples include: new windows, window tinting, new doors, more insulation, upgrade HVAC system, solar panels, solar hot water heaters, cool roof, room/building lighting, occupancy settings. 

Some resources for your analysis:

• How to perform cost-benefit analysis Links to an external site.
• RMI Case Studies Links to an external site.

Your cost-benefit analysis should include REAL numbers with payback periods. I know we have not covered how to do this, which is exactly the point. Part of the learning objectives for this course is to learn how to learn. It is OK to make assumptions for the benefit analysis. Submit your cost-benefit analysis to Assignment Cost Benefit Analysis Links to an external site.. We will discuss these at the beginning of next class. This assignment should be done individually.