What is “Sustainable Design”, and why do we need to do it?
Most people have now at least heard the term “sustainability”, thanks to increasing environmental awareness in virtually every sector of our society. The interest in and awareness of green design has grown dramatically over the last several years. Much of this growth is due to a concern with global climate change, but the reason I do green design is because it simply makes more sense than the old way of creating buildings. Also, done correctly, it is a win+win+win proposition: the occupants of the building win with not only lower bills, but also a more comfortable indoor environment. The local neighbors and surrounding city wins due to a decrease in energy production demands and decrease in associated pollution. And finally, the world wins, due to the decrease in overall material extraction, transportation and pollution production.
My favorite definitions of sustainability:
It should be obvious to anyone who knows about our current commercial and industrial practices that we are not currently meeting any of those definitions. And the construction sector contributes greatly to the problem. Or, more appropriately, it reduces our ability to continue to meet our needs.
Environmental impact of the construction, operation and maintenance of buildings:
In addition, enormous amounts of land are consumed for buildings and infrastructure, leading to the degradation of ecosystems, while indoor pollution and toxins are creating buildings that are actually harmful to their occupants. And with increasing energy and material prices, the case for green building can be made on economics alone.
For me, the final “Why” is: Why does the US have only +/- 5% of the Earth’s population, but use +/- 25% of the resources, and generate +/- 25% of the waste. That level of consumption, adopted on a global scale, is not sustainable.
What are the benefits of sustainable design?
First, there are the environmental benefits of reducing the impacts of natural resource consumption.
Second, are the economic benefits. By improving a building’s energy, operation and maintenance performance, you increase the building’s value, occupancy, occupant productivity and sales.
Third, are the health, comfort and safety benefits, such as greater thermal comfort, better visual quality, improved indoor air quality, enhanced productivity and morale, and a deeper connection to nature.
Fourth, are the community benefits that result from minimizing the strain on local infrastructures and ecosystems and the improved quality of life.
In short, buildings are being designed and built that are beautiful, energy and resource efficient, comfortable, flooded with daylight, and that have healthy indoor environments, resulting in improved health and productivity, a deeper connection with nature, decreased pollution, and a return on investment.
So, before I go any further, I should say that now that the term “sustainable” has become known, the avant garde of the profession is looking beyond mere sustainability (because that only means that you’re not making things any worse), to other terms such as “regenerative design”, or “high performance design”, that more accurately reflect the high aspirations and demonstrated results of the current best practices of building in harmony with nature. The other popular term is “green design”, which I like for it’s simplicity.
What are the features of a green, high performance or regenerative building?
First - it is “Not So Big”. The idea is to build quality rather than quantity. And design it so that you use every space every day. Design with flexibility in mind so rooms can do double duty. Create the illusion of space by utilizing simple spatial tricks to make a home feel, and live, bigger. Simply by optimizing the spaces in a building or home, we can reduce it’s size, and thereby it’s environmental footprint due to it’s energy and material use, and the resources required to condition it. One of the best books on this subject is “The Not So Big House”, by Sarah Susanka. It is virtually required reading for my clients.
Second, it is energy efficient. As has been made obvious in the last couple of years, the days of cheap, plentiful energy are over. Fortunately, there are enormous opportunities in new and existing buildings to decrease energy use, and with the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal, to even make buildings net producers, rather than users, of energy.
Third, in order to optimize a building’s performance, a design process called “Integrated Design” must be used. In the old days, the design and construction of buildings was not exactly an optimized process. Anyone who has been through a construction process themselves knows that it literally involves a cast of dozens, if not hundreds, of people, and errors, delays and other pitfalls are more the rule than the exception. In that old, linear mode, an owner would hire an architect, who would design the building, and then give the design to the engineers, who would work their systems into the design, often at greater effort and cost, due to the lack of their input on the design. Then, the drawings are given to a contractor to build, and often their input has not been solicited, so there are inefficiencies in the design that could have been averted. Then the building is occupied, and the users may find that, due to the inherent flaws in the process, the building is not comfortable or functional. In an integrated design process, all players - owner, architect, engineers, contractors, subs, users - are brought together at square one, with everyone’s input invited so that the building design is optimized.
Fourth, the building must use renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, or geothermal.
Fifth, the building must be designed for adaptability. If a building is built to last, which is fundamental to minimizing a building’s long term impact, it must be designed so that it can evolve with it’s use over time. And, conversely, if a building is built to be adaptable, it is likely to have a longer life.
Sixth, a building should be designed in a “Timeless” style. Avoiding short term trends will yield a building that ages gracefully, and never becomes “dated”.
Seventh, the building must use healthy materials and systems.
Eighth, and last, the building should use daylight to the maximum extent possible. This not only reduces energy demands, but improves health, productivity and morale as well.
How do we make green buildings?
The processes can be broken down into the following general categories, which are explored on the following pages:
