Green Building Grows Up

By Timothy J. Norton

Increasingly, designers, builders and owners view sustainability as just another “tool” in the project tool belt.

There was a time when green buildings facilities that incorporated elements to improve energy efficiency, reduce material waste and make a lighter footprint on the surrounding environment were seen by the industry as trendy, risky and unnecessarily expensive. But those days are gone.

Timothy J. Norton, AIA, serves as senior architect and senior project manager in Carter & Burgess' Building Programs Division. He is a LEED accredited professional.

Today, green awareness is strong and growing. Owners are increasingly concerned about the impact of higher energy prices on operating costs, the long-term value of a structure and the productivity and civic image of their buildings. Communities expect and demand that public and private buildings will be more efficient and ecologically friendly.

At the same time, the design and construction industries have refined their use of “green” materials and methods, and now typically consider sustainability as a natural and logical part of virtually every project.

“The business case for green building is that persuasive--green buildings save money and make money, and the market for green products and services is booming,” says Peter Templeton, vice president of Education & Research with the U.S. Green Building Council, the nation’s leading organization advocating sustainable designs. “Not to mention, it’s just the right thing to do.”

A Growing Awareness Buildings have a significant impact on our economy, environment and productivity. 

According to the USGBC, buildings account for 30% of the nation’s waste output, raw-material usage and greenhouse gas emissions.  Fully 65% of all electricity, and a third of the country’s total energy, is consumed by schools, offices and other buildings. Energy efficiency is a key driver behind the push for more sustainable buildings, and that trend is now apparent in the public and private sectors. 

The public sector has been a forceful advocate of sustainable designs for a number of years. Almost every branch of government requires some level of sustainability in new construction and renovations. In the private sector, clients increasingly request the inclusion of as many “green” elements in their projects as possible.

In fact, in the construction industries, the concept has progressed to the point where people no longer ask whether they should include sustainability in their projects, but instead ask how it can be accomplished. 

Green at Work More building projects in the public and private sectors now reflect the values of sustainable design.

The city of Dallas, for example, has for a number of years required that all new buildings achieve at least a Silver certification under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system established by the USGBC. Other governments that have established green building programs include Colorado, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania, and the cities of Los Angeles and San Jose, Calif.; Frisco, Texas; Portland, Ore.; and Scottsdale, Ariz. 

The University of Texas made maximum practical sustainability a major part of their program for the new Health Science Center Nursing and Biomedical Science Building in Houston. One part of the holistic sustainable design approach was to make the building skin highly energy efficient, though the cost premium was significant. This additional investment provided both near-term and long-term cost savings. Because the building was more energy efficient, the designers could reduce the HVAC fan horsepower by 50%, a significant first-cost reduction. Greater energy efficiency also measurably reduced the long-term operating cost for the new facility. 

Sustainable is Profitable Savvy designers know: A building can incorporate a number of green elements – and achieve LEED Silver or even Gold certification – without any obvious outward design changes and often without incurring major new project costs.

In fact, planners can achieve a number of sustainability objectives through site selection, building orientation and the maintenance of the facility skin. The size, shape and location of windows, and the subtle use of overhangs and sunscreens, can be adapted to take maximum advantage of natural lighting conditions. 

These kinds of simple, low-cost changes can, for example, reduce the energy burden in a typical office building by up to 30%. Considering that offices account for a major part of society’s overall energy consumption, an almost one-third reduction in at-work energy usage would dramatically reduce the nation’s energy bill. 

But sustainability means more than just lowering a building’s electric bill. 

By using materials that are harvested and produced within a 500-mi radius of the worksite, planners can measurably boost a project’s overall sustainability. Many common construction materials, such as concrete and structural steel, now also contain a high percentage of recycled and reused components, and by using these sustainable materials, builders can lower a facility’s total cost of ownership.

Other green building strategies can include the design of smaller, less centralized office or educational facilities, the use of passive survivability designs in areas that are susceptible to natural disasters and investments in high-performance green buildings where appropriate. 

The Benefits of Green Design Environmentally conscious building designs can yield both immediate and long-term advantages. 

Sustainable designs are now being applied to reduce the operating costs of new and recommissioned buildings to enhance facility value and profitability and to optimize the life-cycle performance of those capital assets. Green buildings can enhance the satisfaction and productivity of workers and visitors. And sustainability conserves natural resources, improves air and water quality and contributes to the overall quality of life for the entire community.