A growing body of research evidence is challenging the perception, still held by many that sustainable buildings are significantly more costly to design and build than those that simply ad-here to regulatory requirements.
Research by the Sweett Group [4] into projects using BREAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology), for example, demonstrates that sustainable options often add little or no capital cost to a development project. Where such measures do incur additional costs, these can frequently be paid back through lower running expenses, ultimately leading to saving over the life of the building.