Policy Wise

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Green buildings are no longer the craze of the building industry; they are becoming rapidly mainstream. The latest ‘green building’ to join the list is a building in Athens:

The five-story structure in southern Athens produces zero emissions, uses no fossil fuel and meets virtually all its own energy demands — in winter and in summer — thanks to a computerized system that draws on both solar and geothermal sources. It even produces electricity on the side, some for selling back to the state [source]

The highlight of this structure is that it is not built to satisfy the environmental-friendly sentiments of its stakeholders but simply because it makes economic sense to do so. The public-private project “involving Greece’s National Center for Scientific Research, the Development Ministry, universities in Athens and Thessaloniki and Sol Energy Hellas, a private firm that owns the building” probably highlights an effective strategy that can be used to promote energy conservation.

“The financial feasibility of the project is very attractive. The short payback of these systems gives you the ability to run them almost for free,” said Ilias Nomikos, one of the project directors.

The system was tested over the summer, when Athens reached a record 46.8 degrees Celsius (114.8 Fahrenheit) in June, keeping the building at a cool 22 C (72 F) while costing just €10 (US$14) a day, a fraction of a normal building’s cost.

Frankly, appealing to the moral sentiments of companies that are seeking to maximize the sentiments can only go so far. It is only when the companies realize the economic benefits of energy conservation will they begin to adopt such practices as a company policy. The Big Three car companies in the united States are learning this the hard way as they let Toyota pioneer the hybrid car and are now trying to join the party by launching their own ‘green’ vehicles. But better late than never, eh? This added competition has resulted in fruitful gains for the automobile industry as Toyota Prius, the poster child for hybrid cars is now ranked #12 on the scale of ‘most green cars’.

Even Wal-Mart, the much-hated business behemoth joined the sustainable and organic movement as a PR stunt to revive their battered image. But after couple of quarters of implementing conservation strategies, the results are trickling in and their PR stunt is actually cutting costs leading the upper-management to pay attention towards incorporating such strategies within their mainstream business strategy.

We may see this as reaching the tipping point in the environment movement as such strategies are no longer the domain of the flower-power hippie generation but in fact are becoming the mainstay in the big business boardrooms.

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