By Ryan Randazzo | The Arizona Republic
Energy efficiency is increasingly being built into most large, new construction projects around Arizona, but small commercial buildings rarely go beyond the minimum building codes.
It is more difficult to justify the added construction costs for restaurants, retailers, auto dealers and other small to medium-size operations, so developers tend to leave fancy skylights, foam insulation and other electricity-saving amenities for big projects.
That’s putting their future tenants at a disadvantage because efficiently built structures are cheaper to run, experts say. Buildings that use the government’s Energy Star guidelines use 35 percent less energy than similar buildings and cost 50 cents-per-square-foot less to operate, according to the Energy Department.
Related: Contractor’s investment in efficiency paying off
