Expert Q&As

Lloyd Rosenberg is the president, CEO and founder of DMR Architects in Hasbrouck Heights. We spoke to him about the company’s consulting firm, Green Economics, Inc.

Your company, Green Economics, Inc., provides advice and counsel to the construction industry and corporate world on the economic benefits of green building. You've led DMR Architects for 15 years, when did you begin noticing a need for a firm like Green Economics, Inc?
Well, we saw the turn in sustainable architecture coming about 4 or 5 years ago. Two of our architects became LEED certified several years ago, and then about 5 or 6 more over the last two years, and we've kind of got the whole office now involved in sustainable design.

We saw also a recognition by the state of New Jersey when they first came out with the school program, the SCC school program, that they wanted the school buildings to be designed for LEED but not necessarily certified. And then we see a lot of private of independent clients that have an interest in the use of sustainable design. LEED is just a measurement in order to measure the quantity or quality of the building. And then we're fortunate enough to have a few clients who wanted to take the extra step, recently carlstat? Became the first silver certified building in New Jersey, and we were very proud of that. Saint Joe's school for the blind is a certified LEED school building.

So we've been following this, and I think we're kind of ahead of the curve. We've created the company Green Economics to really capture a professional service or a market to provide whatever advice people need to do the job. So whether it's a contractor or building owner, an engineer, another architect, we can help them in understanding the model on how to do it. We saw that need having gone through a number of projects where people that were on the team didn't know how to do it. So we led them through it. We said, well, now that we know how- let's see if we can make a business out of it.

Can you talk a little bit more in detail about what green economics provides clients?
Depends on the client, whether it's a building owner or a contractor. We provide them with the necessary technical support to demonstrate at first the economic value of putting in the proper equipment or building envelope or refurbishing the building, to be more economical in utility costs, to be able to be more economical in building costs, and if their philosophy is to become a leader and become certified, we help them get a certification. There are many clients that we have that don't necessarily want the gold seal if you will, but they want the product. So either way. The LEED is kind of the gold seal that proves that it works.

Do you feel that clients are open to advice on LEED, or other green and sustainable measures, or do you feel that you need to educate them?
Well, there are two types of clients, there's the ones that don't and the ones that do.

Is it about 50/50?
Almost. We have a lot that understand it, and are very progressive, [whom we're] encouraging to become as LEED certified, and they're willing to spend the money to do it and they realize the payback is relatively good in their favor depending on what we do. And we're always conscious of the economic factor. We have clients that really don't understand what LEED certification is, and we have to educate them, and we try to do the best we can by giving them examples or by giving them economic value. Or we give them what we believe should be a purpose. As a public entity, we try to convince public entities that they should be leaders in the community, to save taxpayer money in the long run, and if you read about oil production and all the other fuels that we have, eventually our children, or our children's children, or somebody down the line is going to be looking for a better way to do things.

Also, the economic value of the building design today that is LEED certified will have a much higher value 5 or 15 years from now than a building that's designed that's not LEED certified. So it's just a better value. Most people at the end of the day realize that.

Are your clients much willing to go beyond LEED standards on their own?
I think they need help, but they are interested and open to that.

Can you give me some examples of the ways in which Green Economics has provided economic benefits to your clients?
The experience we have to date is more on the public side of the equation. Public schools, colleges, universities, and county facilities. They're more likely to incorporate LEED standards. We're working for some real estate development companies who are interested in LEED design. The real estate, the office market, and the new construction are more likely to be examples of industries that are looking to be LEED certified.

How well has Green Economics been received? Are you seeing a demand for services, or an increased demand?
Yes. Actually, I was on a panel for NAIOP a couple of weeks ago and we had quite a good audience, and some of the major developers on the panel with me, and I think all in all, through the industry-the office and industrial market-Green Economics was very well received. People are becoming more and more aware of it. You know, it's on the front page of magazines and newspapers, that sustainable LEED design-green design-is here. It's kind of like equating when air conditioning became a common part of building design, or when elevators became part of building design-we're now dealing with sustainable design, and reuse and energy efficiency as part of our normal design process. So every building we do now is, in some way, using these standards.

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