The Canadian green building initiative: Post occupancy evaluation of Canadian green schools

The Canadian Green Building Initiative represents one of the first Canadian studies to evaluate the short and long-term costs and post-occupancy benefits of green buildings using actual documented data and a whole life costing approach. The study aims to address the lack of empirical evidence in the literature about the long-term cost effectiveness of green buildings. It provides the empirical evidence needed to assert that green buildings can be more cost-effective and offer healthier, more productive and more comfortable indoor environments than conventional buildings. Many of the claims made to date by proponents of green buildings had not been empirically and scientifically substantiated, thus the significance of this research. The study involved analyzing a sample of 10 conventional, 20 energy-retrofitted and 3 green Toronto schools. The analysis showed that green schools consumed and spent less on combined electricity and gas than energy-retrofitted and conventional schools. Green schools also incurred lower operating, maintenance and rehabilitation costs than conventional and energy-retrofitted schools. Nevertheless, despite claims to the contrary in the literature, the study showed that except for rehabilitation costs, every other type of long-term cost such as operating and maintenance costs alone might never outweigh the cost premium of these schools. The survey of teachers working in those schools also showed that occupants of green schools were in general more satisfied with the indoor air quality, lighting, and thermal comfort but less satisfied with acoustics than teachers in conventional and energy-retrofitted schools. The analysis of documented health and productivity data also showed that student, teacher and staff absenteeism rates were lower whereas student grades on standardized Reading, Writing and Arithmetic tests were higher in green schools when compared with conventional and energy-retrofitted ones. The survey of Canadian LEED Accredited Professionals at various points along this study highlighted the importance of involving practitioners in reviewing existing and future research studies in the field. This involvement is needed to improve the relevancy of existing research, meet the needs of practitioners, and evaluate the state of the industry with respect to the adoption and implementation of research results. The study included developing a preliminary model that defines practitioners' involvement throughout the various steps of the research process.