The green building advantage

Depending on which bubble you live in, it may seem that the momentum of green design is unstoppable. While it is true that a lot has been achieved in the recent past, there is still a vast community that either is unaware of sustainable design as a concept, indifferent to its cause, or unconvinced of its advantages. To convince owners, builders, and designers (or other stakeholders) about the benefits of sustainable design, one must first understand that each group has a different opinion about the relevant selling points.

To an owner, the bottom line may be financial. To an architect it might be environmental and to the engineer it might be performance. There are many reasons to build green and, as advocates for sustainable design, architects should be equipped to provide a suitable argument relevant to the particular audience. The following series summarizes these advantages into three main topics -- environmental, economic, and societal.

Let's begin with the big picture -- the global environmental advantages. Since our buildings use such vast amounts of resources in their operation and since they are made of materials that need to be extricated, processed, and manufactured, it is no wonder that approaching their design in a sustainable way could have global impacts on the environment. Sustainable design offers significant advantages in the areas of energy and water use reduction, air quality improvement, and increased material efficiency.

Reduced Energy Consumption: One goal of sustainable design is to reduce the amount of energy required to cool, heat, and light our buildings. By utilizing passive strategies such as daylighting, thermal mass, and shading, or by utilizing high performance systems, we can significantly reduce the energy demand of our mechanical systems. This translates into a reduced need for extricating dwindling fossil fuels and power plant operation.

Reduced Water Consumption: With water efficient design, our buildings can reduce the amount of potable water required for non-consumptive uses. Efficient landscape, hardscape, and roof designs can also mitigate storm water runoff thereby lessening the burden on our storm and sewer systems. This positively affects local, regional, and global waterways by reducing pollution and supporting natural watersheds.

Reduced Air Pollution: There are a number of indirect (relative to buildings) sources of pollution such as vehicle pollution from the transport of building products and the manufacturing of building products. There are also direct pollutant sources such as HVAC refrigerants and the toxic emissions from our finishes. All of these have impacts on global warming, ozone depletion, and air pollution.

Increased Material Efficiency: Due to the mining, transportation, and manufacturing processes, using local and natural materials in our buildings has a direct benefit on all three of the above strategies. In addition, utilizing recycled, reclaimed, or salvaged materials can lessen the burden on our landfills by reducing the need for dumping.

Economic Advantages

It's hard to ignore cold hard cash. There are some clear economic advantages to sustainable building. Since we generally pay for the energy and water we use, it would follow that reducing that consumption would lessen the financial burden of building operations.

In the case of passive heating and cooling systems, this also means a reduction in maintenance costs. And by improving the comfort for our buildings' occupants, we can reduce costly employee turnover. The economic benefits of sustainable design can be realized in the short term, long term, and in the added value put towards our projects.

Short Term Advantages: Sustainable buildings can offer immediate savings in the area of utility costs. Whether from reduced electrical energy and water usage, or from reduced cost of storm water mitigation infrastructure, our buildings have the opportunity to lessen the cost of running utility bills. In addition, buildings with efficient layouts can reduce the cost of building materials and construction waste. Also, if a building utilizes smaller HVAC equipment and relies more on passive strategies for heating and cooling, then the first cost of equipment could be less. There could also be financial incentives from local utility companies for buildings utilizing sustainable design strategies.

Long Term Advantages: Utility cost savings over the long term could pay for possible up front cost increases. While the payback duration on items like photovoltaic panels is debatable, some other measures may realize quick pay-offs. Passive systems may need little to no ongoing maintenance; therefore a building owner could save on the building operations budget. This translates into our landscape designs as well. Natural landscapes generally require less maintenance than conventional ones. Another benefit is the churn rate. Buildings designed for flexible layouts can reduce the costs of reconfiguration.

Added Project Value: Many owners are now using "Green Design" as a selling point. For leasing or re-selling property, sustainable buildings can attract new audiences and a new market. This could translate into quicker sales and higher rents. In addition, recruiting new employees (and keeping them) can be made easier by offering attractive and healthy facilities in which to work. Studies have emerged that show employees working in healthy environments work more productively, take less sick days, and tend to remain loyal with the firm.

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