Building “Green” for Ordinary Folks
Over the last few decades, the term “Green” has become a standard phrase to describe a certain architectural design strategy. A green building design project is one that has met certain certifications and standards for environmental sustainability and resource efficiency. The main one of these certifications was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council and is called LEED for short. LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. This program was started over 30 years ago. During that time frame the program has grown in popularity and complexity. As of today, there are over 195,000 buildings in the world that have some form of LEED certification. So, if you consider yourself an “ordinary folks”, you might ask the question… Why do I need to know about this “Green” Building strategy? I hope to answer that question if you read a bit farther.
Let’s look at the elements of Green building design. In summary, the elements are energy use efficiency, site sustainability, water use efficiency, materials / resources, indoor environment, design innovation, and regional environmental concerns. Looking a bit closer at teach of these…
Energy Use Efficiency
The design must optimize energy performance, minimize consumption and utilize renewable energy where possible.
Site Sustainability
The design must minimize the environmental impact of the building and site construction. Site selection, storm drainage and landscaped open space are all critical to the final design
Water Use Efficiency
The design reduce water usage for both indoor and outdoor consumption with efficient plumbing, irrigation, and reuse systems.
Materials / Resources
The design must utilize responsible material selections, waste reducttion, and recycling materials during construction. Impact on the building lifecycle should also be a consideration.
Indoor Environment
The design must create an indoor environment that is healthy for occupants as regards air quality, natural lighting, and acoustics.
Design Innovation
This element encourages designers to use the maximum amount of creativity to achieve the other required elements.
Regional Concerns
The design must consider specific regional environmental concerns that extend beyond the property lines of the subject site.
For each of the elements of Green building above there are volumes of books, articles, websites, classes, software and other resources to educate and assist you in the design process. However, the “ordinary folk” who are interested in these topics just need to know these facts. “Green” buildings are created to achieve a better built environment for the people who utilize them as well as have a less detrimental impact on the natural environment.
As an architect who has worked on private, institutional and public projects, the one element that is not on this list is the project budget and long-term costs. This article will not attempt to delve into that topic to any large degree. However, I mention it because every element in the “Green” building certification project has a cost associated with it. Many private clients, who are already on tight budgets, cannot add the extra costs associated with all the elements. They will select certain elements, like energy use efficiency and indoor environment, to be implemented in the design without much consideration for the remaining elements. When this occurs, the building project will have “Green” elements but cannot have a formal LEED certification. Institutional, corporate and public projects are more likely to have a project budget that can absorb the added costs for all the elements and obtain the LEED certification.
Three other aspects of Green building design are something that “ordinary folks” do need to know and understand. These three aspects are public relations, marketing and environmental consciousness. Many building owners use the LEED certification in their public relations and marketing materials. They do this because there are numerous building tenants, and other prospective users, who like to be associated with the LEED program. Many large corporate, institutional and public owners promote their projects as being “Green” or LEED certified. This is directed at the aspect of environmental consciousness. This is a feeling some people have that they need to do something to assist in the goal to save or maintain the Earth’s resources and natural environment. Most are even willing to offset the cost of the “Green” building elements if they can contribute to this concern or effort in higher rent or user fees.
So, for “ordinary folks”, who are not in the architectural or engineering professions, you need to know what “Green” buildings are and how they may affect your choices. You may find yourself looking for an apartment to rent that is marketed in a LEED certified building. You may find yourself wanting to sign a lease on a fabulous office structure that is marketed as a “Green” project. You may find yourself considering how to vote on a new school bond package that is labeled as upgrading the schools to LEED certifications. So as with many aspects of modern life in the 21st century, you need to be informed properly when making choices.
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