The UF Department of Urban and Regional Planning put on a Green Symposium today. A panel of experts presented research findings on the trend toward green building and urban planning. Of note:

• Much of the current green building is done by builders who will occupy the buildings they design, such as schools and health care buildings 
• Many research initiatives have quantified the return on investment of green building investment
• The location (proximity of occupants) of new office building construction often has a bigger impact on the building's energy consumption than its construction, i.e., on average occupants expend twice as much energy commuting than the building does when occupied
• Average cost of a home built to code: $300k; Average cost of LEED certified construction: $308K
• 83% of Executive home builders "extremely" or "very likely" to seek LEED Certification in the next 5 years
• Current development regulations significantly impact the ability to add greenery to new development areas
• According to new codes, town center commercial areas must be out of sight of major thoroughfares.
• Regulation always has unintended consequences

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