Rating Environmental Performance in the Building Industry: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Net Present Value (NPV) / MBA Resources

Introduction to Net Present Value (NPV) - What is Net Present Value (NPV) ? How it impacts financial decisions regarding project management?

NPV solution for Rating Environmental Performance in the Building Industry: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Rating Environmental Performance in the Building Industry: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Andrea Larson, Chris Lotspeich, Stephen Keach. The Rating Environmental Performance in the Building Industry: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) (referred as “Water Leed” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Technology & Operations. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, .

The net present value (NPV) of an investment proposal is the present value of the proposal’s net cash flows less the proposal’s initial cash outflow. If a project’s NPV is greater than or equal to zero, the project should be accepted.

NPV = Present Value of Future Cash Flows LESS Project’s Initial Investment

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Case Description of Rating Environmental Performance in the Building Industry: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Case Study

Environmentally preferable or "green" building uses optimal and innovative design to provide economic, health, environmental, and social benefits. In 1993 the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) was formed by a broad range of building industry stakeholders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. It is a committee-based, member-driven, and consensus-focused nonprofit coalition leading a national effort to promote high-performance buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work. In 2000, USGBC created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. That voluntary standard was intended to transform the building market by providing guidelines, certification, and education for green building. LEED is a comprehensive, transparent, and market-driven framework for assessing buildings' environmental performance. Compared to standard practice, "green" buildings can provide greater economic and social benefits over the life of the structures, reduce or eliminate adverse human health effects, and even contribute to improved air and water quality. Opportunities for reducing both costs and environmental impact include low-disturbance land use techniques, improved lighting design, high performance water fixtures, careful materials selection, energy efficient appliances and heating and cooling systems, and on-site water treatment and recycling. Less familiar innovations include natural ventilation and cooling without fans and air conditioners, vegetative roofing systems that provide wildlife habitat and reduce storm water runoff, and constructed wetlands that help preserve water quality while reducing water treatment costs.

Case Authors : Andrea Larson, Chris Lotspeich, Stephen Keach

Topic : Technology & Operations

Related Areas :

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Rating Environmental Performance in the Building Industry: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10006343)	-10006343	-	-
Year 1	3461218	-6545125	3461218	0.9434	3265300
Year 2	3982275	-2562850	7443493	0.89	3544211
Year 3	3967829	1404979	11411322	0.8396	3331466
Year 4	3243896	4648875	14655218	0.7921	2569469
TOTAL			14655218		12710446

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2704103

In isolation the NPV number doesn't mean much but put in right context then it is one of the best method to evaluate project returns. In this article we will cover -

Different methods of capital budgeting

What is NPV & Formula of NPV,
How it is calculated,
How to use NPV number for project evaluation, and
Scenario Planning given risks and management priorities.

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Capital Budgeting Approaches

Methods of Capital Budgeting

There are four types of capital budgeting techniques that are widely used in the corporate world –

1. Net Present Value
2. Payback Period
3. Internal Rate of Return
4. Profitability Index

Apart from the Payback period method which is an additive method, rest of the methods are based on Discounted Cash Flow technique. Even though cash flow can be calculated based on the nature of the project, for the simplicity of the article we are assuming that all the expected cash flows are realized at the end of the year.

Discounted Cash Flow approaches provide a more objective basis for evaluating and selecting investment projects. They take into consideration both –

1. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Water Leed have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.
2. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Water Leed shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Rating Environmental Performance in the Building Industry: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

NPV = Net Cash In Flowt1 / (1+r)t1 + Net Cash In Flowt2 / (1+r)t2 + … Net Cash In Flowtn / (1+r)tn
Less Net Cash Out Flowt0 / (1+r)t0

Where t = time period, in this case year 1, year 2 and so on.
r = discount rate or return that could be earned using other safe proposition such as fixed deposit or treasury bond rate. Net Cash In Flow – What the firm will get each year.
Net Cash Out Flow – What the firm needs to invest initially in the project.

Step 1 – Understand the nature of the project and calculate cash flow for each year.
Step 2 – Discount those cash flow based on the discount rate.
Step 3 – Add all the discounted cash flow.
Step 4 – Selection of the project

Why Technology & Operations Managers need to know Financial Tools such as Net Present Value (NPV)?

In our daily workplace we often come across people and colleagues who are just focused on their core competency and targets they have to deliver. For example marketing managers at Water Leed often design programs whose objective is to drive brand awareness and customer reach. But how that 30 point increase in brand awareness or 10 point increase in customer touch points will result into shareholders’ value is not specified.

To overcome such scenarios managers at Water Leed needs to not only know the financial aspect of project management but also needs to have tools to integrate them into part of the project development and monitoring plan.

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 15%

After working through various assumptions we reached a conclusion that risk is far higher than 6%. In a reasonably stable industry with weak competition - 15% discount rate can be a good benchmark.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 15 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10006343)	-10006343	-	-
Year 1	3461218	-6545125	3461218	0.8696	3009755
Year 2	3982275	-2562850	7443493	0.7561	3011172
Year 3	3967829	1404979	11411322	0.6575	2608912
Year 4	3243896	4648875	14655218	0.5718	1854708
TOTAL					10484547

The Net NPV after 4 years is 478204

(10484547 - 10006343 )

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 20%

If the risk component is high in the industry then we should go for a higher hurdle rate / discount rate of 20%.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 20 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10006343)	-10006343	-	-
Year 1	3461218	-6545125	3461218	0.8333	2884348
Year 2	3982275	-2562850	7443493	0.6944	2765469
Year 3	3967829	1404979	11411322	0.5787	2296197
Year 4	3243896	4648875	14655218	0.4823	1564379
TOTAL					9510393

The Net NPV after 4 years is -495950

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9510393 - 10006343 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Water Leed to discount cash flow at lower discount rates such as 15%.

Acceptance Criteria of a Project based on NPV

Simplest Approach – If the investment project of Water Leed has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Water Leed can ACCEPT the project, otherwise they can reject the project. This means that project will deliver higher returns over the period of time than any alternate investment strategy.

In theory if the required rate of return or discount rate is chosen correctly by finance managers at Water Leed, then the stock price of the Water Leed should change by same amount of the NPV. In real world we know that share price also reflects various other factors that can be related to both macro and micro environment.

In the same vein – accepting the project with zero NPV should result in stagnant share price. Finance managers use discount rates as a measure of risk components in the project execution process.

Sensitivity Analysis

Project selection is often a far more complex decision than just choosing it based on the NPV number. Finance managers at Water Leed should conduct a sensitivity analysis to better understand not only the inherent risk of the projects but also how those risks can be either factored in or mitigated during the project execution. Sensitivity analysis helps in –

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

What are the uncertainties surrounding the project Initial Cash Outlay (ICO’s). ICO’s often have several different components such as land, machinery, building, and other equipment.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

What will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

Some of the assumptions while using the Discounted Cash Flow Methods –

Projects are assumed to be Mutually Exclusive – This is seldom the came in modern day giant organizations where projects are often inter-related and rejecting a project solely based on NPV can result in sunk cost from a related project.

Independent projects have independent cash flows – As explained in the marketing project – though the project may look independent but in reality it is not as the brand awareness project can be closely associated with the spending on sales promotions and product specific advertising.

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Negotiation Strategy of Rating Environmental Performance in the Building Industry: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

References & Further Readings

Andrea Larson, Chris Lotspeich, Stephen Keach (2018), "Rating Environmental Performance in the Building Industry: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.