Molasky Corporate Center Goes LEED Gold; Articulating the Financial Case

This project is good way for me to flaunt the business case for green building, so I gotta take it.  According to Richard Worthington, President of Molasky Group, "it will take 12-15 years to recoup the extra $5-7 million it cost to build Molasky Corporate Center (MCC) to LEED Gold certification."  Compared to the averages, this is a little high because your typical LEED Gold building will cost a premium of about 3-4%, but construction costs are bonkers right now.  I can tell you that 15 years is less than your straight line building depreciation.  Conclusion = green features pay for themselves over the life of the building, at the very minimum. 

Green Features:
MCC is a 16-story office tower under construction on Grand Central Parkway in Las Vegas.  One of its green features calls for the use of blue jean insulation, which Worthington seemed to humor: "Those jeans might have been worn by some super-hot model in New York at one time."  In addition to using thousands of blue jeans for insulation, MCC has the following green features:  95% recycled steel; crushed glass countertops in the bathroom retail; underfloor air distribution system with heating and a/c vents running underneath a 14-inch raised floor; intelligent design to maximize natural lighting sans glare; water conserving toilets, showerheads, and faucets; and rainwater reclamation system for landscape irrigation. 

The $107 million building was designed by Howard F. Thompson Architects and will include yellow crown and green accent lighting at night.  With 340,000 cars per day and a 4% vacancy rate in class A space for Las Vegas, the building seems to be coming on line at the right time.  Matter of fact, it's almost completely leased with  tenants including Southern Nevada Water Authority, Las Vegas Valley Water District, Molasky Group of Cos., Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, and Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck.  Via LV Review Journal + MCC.