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GREEN DESIGN
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Green Design
Of the total expenditures an owner will make over the course of the building's lifetime; design and construction expenditures, the so called first costs of a facility, will account for 5-10 percent of the total life-cycle cost. In contrast, 
operations and maintenance costs will account for 60-80 percent of the total life-cycle costs, with land acquisition, conceptual planning, renewal or revitalization, and disposal accounting for the remaining 5-35 percent.
Some aspects of design have little or no first cost including site orientation and window and overhang placement. Other sustainable systems that may cost more in the design phase, such as an insulated shell, can be offset by the reduced cost of a smaller mechanical system. This concept is known as right sizing of infrastructure and mechanical systems. Material costs can be reduced during the construction phase by dimensional planning - a strategy to design for minimizing framing needs, carpet etc.
Several new studies demonstrate that green buildings are not more expensive to build, and the lifetime benefits of these buildings are significant.
This October 2003 report to California's Sustainable Building Task Force by Capital E, in collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council, concludes that minimal increases in upfront costs of about 2% for green design, on average, result in life cycle savings of 20% of total construction costs - more than ten times the initial investment. The financial benefits include lower energy, waste disposal, and water costs, lower environmental and emissions costs, lower operations and maintenance costs, and savings from increased productivity and health. The data from this report is national in scope and conclusions are broadly applicable to other types of buildings.