Green Design: New Construction Vs. Renovation Green Design: New Construction Vs. Renovation
Following are excerpts from an article by Daniel P. Perruzzi, Jr., AIA, LEED AP
published in Buildings Magazine
Those of us within the architectural community are becoming very familiar with making a case for green design. A project that’s been designed with green principles in mind will consume less energy, can provide a healthier indoor environment for its occupants, and should cost only slightly more than a comparable project designed without green-design principles.
In making the case, there is a wide range of supporting data suggesting that green-design measures are effective at increasing the health and job satisfaction of workers, and that this generally leads to greater productivity and less sick days and other lost time. In addition, green-design principles are being rapidly accepted by local, state, and federal agencies, and by major U.S. corporations. Owners of new developments who employ green design are using it as a strategy to separate their properties from their non-green competition.
A recent article by Charles Lockwood in Harvard Business Review compares the impact of the green-design revolution with earlier innovations, such as the elevator and air-conditioning. Owners of existing properties, in addition to those developing new construction projects, are beginning to assess the greenness of their buildings and plan improvements to bring them into compliance with green standards.
The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program consists of several rating systems that provide guidance on how to adopt green-design measures; they also objectively measure compliance levels.
All of the LEED rating systems are built around six categories. Within each category are specific measures that a project must accomplish to achieve a point in that rating system.
· The Sustainable Sites category identifies opportunities for public transportation access, encouraging alternate transportation means, managing stormwater, minimizing light pollution, and reducing heat islands.
· The Water Efficiency category contains measures for reducing water consumption in the landscape and within a building.
· Energy & Atmosphere is primarily concerned with the efficient design of HVAC systems and measures to establish and maintain critical performance guidelines for those systems.
· Materials & Resources focuses on minimizing construction waste, diverting waste away from landfills and into recycling centers, and encouraging the use of locally available materials. This category also awards points for the use of recycled-content materials, as well as materials derived from rapidly renewable resources.
· Indoor Environmental Quality awards points for using low-emitting materials, providing daylight and views, and implementing an IAQ management plan.
· Innovation & Design Process (Innovation in Operations) recognizes and awards projects that exceed requirements by implementing an innovative technology or design that’s not recognized in any other category.
Specific compliance requirements are established within each of the categories. In some cases, a category has prerequisites that must be achieved before any points can be awarded.
For a new building project, the planning process for sustainable design is relatively straightforward: The LEED-NC rating system is reviewed against the project scope. The owner and design and construction teams make collective decisions on the measures that can be implemented and those that aren’t possible because they’re either outside the scope of the project or are too expensive.
For a renovation project, there are even more choices – an intention of the USGBC to address the varied nature of renovation projects. An existing building that’s undergoing gut renovation (all HVAC and electrical systems removed and replaced, new exterior windows installed, exterior walls upgraded, and new interior construction throughout) would use the same LEED rating system as a new project (LEED-NC).
For owners who are looking to upgrade their existing buildings for the sole purpose of achieving a desired level of green, the USGBC has developed the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (or LEED-EB O&M) rating system. This program provides guidance, incentives, and recognition to owners who want to upgrade their existing buildings to meet LEED standards.
Both rating systems discourage the use of refrigerants containing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) because of the harmful effects these compounds have on the ozone layer. Appropriately, a prerequisite of getting any Energy & Atmosphere points under LEED-NC is the total elimination of these compounds.
Now that the LEED-EB O&M rating system has been accepted for use by the industry, it will be interesting to see how many building owners take advantage of the program and begin auditing the performance of their buildings. Just as when buildings were renovated to take advantage of improvements in elevator and air-conditioning technologies, we may likely be on the cusp of a similar period in which buildings are upgraded to take advantage of new developments in sustainable design.
Editors note: For the complete article visit http://www.mp-architects.com/news_feature.php
Following are excerpts from an article by Daniel P. Perruzzi, Jr., AIA, LEED AP
published in Buildings Magazine
Those of us within the architectural community are becoming very familiar with making a case for green design. A project that’s been designed with green principles in mind will consume less energy, can provide a healthier indoor environment for its occupants, and should cost only slightly more than a comparable project designed without green-design principles.
In making the case, there is a wide range of supporting data suggesting that green-design measures are effective at increasing the health and job satisfaction of workers, and that this generally leads to greater productivity and less sick days and other lost time. In addition, green-design principles are being rapidly accepted by local, state, and federal agencies, and by major U.S. corporations. Owners of new developments who employ green design are using it as a strategy to separate their properties from their non-green competition.
A recent article by Charles Lockwood in Harvard Business Review compares the impact of the green-design revolution with earlier innovations, such as the elevator and air-conditioning. Owners of existing properties, in addition to those developing new construction projects, are beginning to assess the greenness of their buildings and plan improvements to bring them into compliance with green standards.
The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program consists of several rating systems that provide guidance on how to adopt green-design measures; they also objectively measure compliance levels.
All of the LEED rating systems are built around six categories. Within each category are specific measures that a project must accomplish to achieve a point in that rating system.
· The Sustainable Sites category identifies opportunities for public transportation access, encouraging alternate transportation means, managing stormwater, minimizing light pollution, and reducing heat islands.
· The Water Efficiency category contains measures for reducing water consumption in the landscape and within a building.
· Energy & Atmosphere is primarily concerned with the efficient design of HVAC systems and measures to establish and maintain critical performance guidelines for those systems.
· Materials & Resources focuses on minimizing construction waste, diverting waste away from landfills and into recycling centers, and encouraging the use of locally available materials. This category also awards points for the use of recycled-content materials, as well as materials derived from rapidly renewable resources.
· Indoor Environmental Quality awards points for using low-emitting materials, providing daylight and views, and implementing an IAQ management plan.
· Innovation & Design Process (Innovation in Operations) recognizes and awards projects that exceed requirements by implementing an innovative technology or design that’s not recognized in any other category.
Specific compliance requirements are established within each of the categories. In some cases, a category has prerequisites that must be achieved before any points can be awarded.
For a new building project, the planning process for sustainable design is relatively straightforward: The LEED-NC rating system is reviewed against the project scope. The owner and design and construction teams make collective decisions on the measures that can be implemented and those that aren’t possible because they’re either outside the scope of the project or are too expensive.
For a renovation project, there are even more choices – an intention of the USGBC to address the varied nature of renovation projects. An existing building that’s undergoing gut renovation (all HVAC and electrical systems removed and replaced, new exterior windows installed, exterior walls upgraded, and new interior construction throughout) would use the same LEED rating system as a new project (LEED-NC).
For owners who are looking to upgrade their existing buildings for the sole purpose of achieving a desired level of green, the USGBC has developed the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (or LEED-EB O&M) rating system. This program provides guidance, incentives, and recognition to owners who want to upgrade their existing buildings to meet LEED standards.
Both rating systems discourage the use of refrigerants containing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) because of the harmful effects these compounds have on the ozone layer. Appropriately, a prerequisite of getting any Energy & Atmosphere points under LEED-NC is the total elimination of these compounds.
Now that the LEED-EB O&M rating system has been accepted for use by the industry, it will be interesting to see how many building owners take advantage of the program and begin auditing the performance of their buildings. Just as when buildings were renovated to take advantage of improvements in elevator and air-conditioning technologies, we may likely be on the cusp of a similar period in which buildings are upgraded to take advantage of new developments in sustainable design.
