Forest and Green Building: Economic and Environmental Analysis Report

This report examines the multifaceted benefits of forests and green buildings. It highlights the economic value of forests, including their role in water catchment, soil conservation, and support for agricultural activities like coffee production, emphasizing the significance of ecosystem services, carbon sequestration, and air purification. The report further discusses the advantages of energy-efficient construction, focusing on the increased value of green buildings, their cost-effectiveness in the long run, and the growing market for sustainable construction practices. It emphasizes the roles of various stakeholders in driving the value of green buildings and concludes that energy-efficient buildings are crucial for environmental sustainability. The report references key sources to support its findings.

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Opinion
Name:
Institution:
Course number and name:
Instructor’s name:
6th March 2020

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Opinion
Question one
The forest has great benefits to us apart from just pollination. We can see that the forest
act as a water catchment area where we derive our source of water from the forest. This is a good
aspect of nature since the trees are usually important. The vegetation of the forest holds the soil
together and prevent erosion. There are a lot of nutrients in the forest soil which makes them
important to our activities. From the article, we also learn of the economic values of the forests
to our lives. Coffee plantations and farming benefit greatly from the presence of a forest. There
are ecosystem services derived from the forest (Walsh, Soliman, Greenhalgh, Mason, & Palmer,
2017). The ecosystem services are the processes which support the fulfilment of human life
through their natural systems. There are also immense benefits of forests to society.
The benefits of forests are largely unquantified and they include water flow and carbon
sequestration. Forests clean up the air by absorbing our carbon footprints and giving us fresh
oxygen. Forests can be said as natural air purifiers and act as temperature control objects. The
economic value of forests can be calculated as follows: Income= [the area within 1 km of 2
patches and more than a kilometre from other points/patches]*[net yield increase to within 1
kilometre of the forest]*[per unit net income of coffee] (Ricketts, Daily, Ehrlich, & Michener,
2004). This is one way to quantify the economic value of forest especially for coffee plantations
near forest bodies. The cover provided by forests assist in all forms of agricultural activities near
the forest bodies.

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Question two
Energy efficiency construction improves the value of houses. Any construction of
building with the green and energy-efficient system would include remodelling of the same. The
green buildings are more expensive to construct as opposed to the normal types of houses.
Lifelong sustainability ideas are implemented in the energy-efficient houses during construction
(“Energy saver,” n.d). The valuation professions are encouraged for the green buildings to build
a sustainable system for future benefits. The green buildings are expensive to construct and
cheap to maintain. The energy-efficient buildings save the owners from expensive costs of
maintenance (Bowman, & Wills, 2008). The environmental benefits from the buildings are also
immense. The market for green buildings is growing at a fast rate following the sensitization
process of green construction.
The report on valuing green in Australia apply to many parts of the world. My country
also benefits from the report based on property players. There are financiers, developers,
occupants, accountants, and regulators who work in their respective positions to construct the
green buildings (Bowman, & Wills, 2008). The different positions drive the value in many
different ways. For example, the financier drives the return on capital while developing the
profitability of the same. Cash flows values the completion and the marketability of the green
buildings. In general, I do not find anything that does not apply to the green building
constructions in my country. The green star rating tool is similar in driving the marketing growth
of the green buildings. Energy-efficient buildings are the way to go forward for the future of the
environment.

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References
“Energy saver,” (n.d). Energy-Efficient Home Design. Design for Efficiency. Energy.gov.
Retrieved from: https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/design/energy-efficient-home-
design
Bowman, R., & Wills, J. (2008). Valuing green: How green buildings affect property values and
getting the valuation method right. Green Building Council of Australia, Sydney.
Ricketts, T. H., Daily, G. C., Ehrlich, P. R., & Michener, C. D. (2004). Economic value of
tropical forest to coffee production. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
101(34), 12579-12582. Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8403976_Economic_value_of_forest_to_coffee_pro
duction
Walsh, P. J., Soliman, T., Greenhalgh, S., Mason, N. W. H., & Palmer, D. (2017). Valuing the
benefits of forests. Landcare Research Contract Report LC2788 prepared for the
Ministry for Primary Industries, 57. Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick_Walsh13/publication/333798104_Valuing_t
he_Benefits_of_Forests_in_New_Zealand/links/5d04a5b2a6fdcc39f11b752f/Valuing-
the-Benefits-of-Forests-in-New-Zealand.pdf