Abstract
Green building is not a new concept; however, the government making it a requirement is. The State of California is once again the first to mandate green building through its state building code. CALGreen requires all new construction to follow a minimum set of green building measures and provides additional green building measures that are voluntary, unless a jurisdiction mandates them. This thesis is a cost/benefit analysis of constructing a proposed office building to meet the mandatory and/or voluntary CALGreen requirements at 10799 International Drive. The extra initial costs totaled 1.088 percent, 5.292 percent, and 22.304 percent above the baseline building for the mandatory CALGreen, voluntary Tier 1, and voluntary Tier 2 buildings, respectively. The quantifiable private benefits originated from utility savings by creating lower operating expenses in the base year, higher property values, and additional rent. The private benefits from the utility savings totaled $21,157 for the mandatory CALGreen building, $167,670 for the CALGreen Tier 1 building, and $348,584 for the CALGreen Tier 2 building. The extra initial costs and associated benefits resulted in negative results of the net present value, internal rate of return, and discounted payback period for all three green building levels of CALGreen.