The green advantage

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Singapore 13^th September 2011

These last few days I am full on putting the finishing touch on my book and I must say neglecting my office a little bit in the process. Luckily staff knocks on my door when anyone wants attention J It’s all in the details and it is amazing how many small details need to be resolved before we really can go to print! Today I officially got my ISBN number so the book is now internationally registered in the system!

What caught my attention today (I like reading my newspaper over a cup of coffee at my local Kopitiam in the morning…) was an article about a research done by an Australian real estate organisation in regards to green buildings in Australia and how they found that green buildings on average sold for about 10% more than conventional buildings. Now assuming this is a credible research with verifiable facts (this I don’t know) it would indicate an interesting developing trend in the building industry. Namely that investing in green technologies pays of in the longer run. The article did not specify whether lighting was part of the “green” technologies but assume that the buildings researched had some form of green mark that certified the implementation of these green technologies. I think we can safely take it that regardless of the report, this is a trend that is bound to develop stronger and stronger, it only makes sense, right?

If we add to that the energy saving (or reduction in electricity bill) that is created and in case of lighting also the ease of maintenance and operation, it starts to become an interesting picture. Green lighting design (every good lighting installation green or not starts with good design principles!) comes with a premium when it comes to pricing but with this developing trend we have
a new benefit to present to or client, an investment that eventually will pay off. The value increase maybe 10%, but the savings in operational cost may well add up to another 10-20% benefit. With green lighting technology already implementable with a premium of about 30-50% it starts to become a much more interesting proposition commercially as well!

In Light Watch today some “green buildings in and around Singapore that have been completed in recent times. The Nanyang Technological University, The Singapore Management University, The Marina Barrage and one of the first restaurants with a Green Mark, Mc Donalds Restaurant in Jurong Central Park.