Benefits of Sustainable Design for Buildings

Benefits of Sustainable Design for Buildings

The Hickory Consortium

For a wide variety of reasons, both idealistic and practical, the comprehensive approach to building known as sustainable design or green building is strongly recommended for the new mixed use development.  If the designers and owners initially embrace this approach, we firmly believe it will result in a better building at no significant cost premium, or a superior building at a modest premium.  Many buildings have been around for hundreds of years, there is every reason to expect that this one will also be in use for hundreds of years.  This means that design with strong consideration for the future is the most rational approach.  This is the underpinning of the sustainable design methodology.

Sustainability is the ability of a system to maintain itself as a whole, functioning system over a long period of time.  For a building, this means thinking of long term impacts, uses, and costs.  Sustainability provides an organizing principle that must be used to plan for a stable future and a durable building.  Using resources wisely to establish a continuous cycle of use and renewal is at the center of this principle. To a building sector that has thrived on the exploitation of both natural resources and natural waste disposal sites, sustainability means living within the carrying capacity of regional and global environment.  To the occupants of sustainably designed buildings, it means better health, a more pleasant living environment, lower costs, increased environmental responsibility, and a supportive community.

The overall goals of sustainable building can be generalized in five summary categories.   These broad categories include a wide variety of building issues, but represent the nature of the values inherent in green building.   The idea of sustainability overlays some more practical concerns such as economics and building durability and thus represents a more comprehensive approach to building.

General categories for green building

1. Community issues
2. Direct and indirect environmental impact
3. Resource conservation and recycling
4. Quality of the indoor environment
5. Energy efficiency and renewable energy

Community is one form of information transfer, since a community can only result from the exercise of opportunity to communicate.   For housing, the goal of designing the environment to enhance community is one key to successful occupancy.  Similarly, designing a commercial building to improve the interaction of occupants can result in a more successful working environment.  The concept of encouraging interaction and making communication easy is at the core of creating building that support the occupants, making it easier concentrate on work and to live together.

Materials choices are often regarded as the cornerstone of sustainable design.  Materials are involved with every part of the process, from structure to indoor air quality.  Part of good design is to choose durable, repairable, materials and to consider maintenance in site design and planning (lawns, driveway, lights).   Environmental impacts of materials choices can be seen through benchmarking tools which Hickory uses to evaluate and compare CO₂ and atmospheric, energy, health, cost and resource impacts.  Through the whole building approach, integrating good materials happens early in the process, with minimal cost effects.

Waste and energy are physical quantities; the necessary information about them can and should be part of the design process for buildings. Individual buildings of all kinds can use energy conservation and renewable energy to supply many of their needs and eliminate a large part of their atmospheric waste stream.  By reducing energy use and including renewables as part of the initial design, no cost sacrifice is required and great benefits accrue.  In high performance buildings there needs to be no impact on comfort. There needs to be little energy use, which means low operating costs.  Because attention will be paid to health and indoor environment, there will be a beneficial impact on occupant health, productivity, and long term cost.

Here is one prioritization of sustainability goals from the global and occupant=s best interest perspective.  It is anticipated that the interaction of the school, the design committee, developers and other involved parties, a prioritization of goals will be developed specific to the needs of the graduate housing building.

Design and operational goals of sustainable building:

• 1          Save Energy
• 2          Create a Healthy Indoor Environment
• 3          Create Community (make it happen financially as well as socially)
• 4          Minimize Pollution Generation
• 5          Recycle Materials
• 6          Reduce life cycle cost of housing
• 7          Promote Comfort (thermal, auditory, visual, odors etc.)
• 8          Reduce Material Use
• 9          Minimize Construction Waste
• 10        Maximize Longevity/Durability
• 11        Monitor and Improve Performance ( to insure efficiency and improve systems)
• 12        Protect/Enhance the Site (eg. Create Gardening Opportunities)
• 13         Save Water    (Reduce use, recycle, reuse)
• 14        Educational Function (for Co-Housing and Sustainable Building)

Since saving energy is at the top of the list, we approach this goal in a comprehensive manner known as the whole building approach.

Whole Building Approach:

The interaction between the components of the building, equipment, the HVAC systems, and the environment is especially important for reduced energy and resource use.    Climate, in fact, offers resources that can be applied to some of the important needs of the building and its occupants. Climate is more than an obstacle to be overcome, and more than a resource to exploit, it is the context for sustainable design.

Typically, the architect designs the building without an understanding of the mechanical equipment or its interaction with the building.  On the other hand, consulting engineers seldom have input to the design features that may have a great impact on their heating and cooling loads.  Generally, the engineer designs the system to more than adequately cover the needed energy and then adds an additional safety margin to cover unanticipated occupant needs.  The mechanical system is oversized by far more than required for prudence in eliminating the risk of discomfort.  This oversizing results in inefficient operation under typical conditions, higher operating costs, and higher maintenance costs, since maintenance costs are often determined by the size of the equipment.

The whole building approach involves looking at all parts of the building and the building process to reveal opportunities to improve the building at the lowest possible cost.  An integrated design team is the key to success. The first step is to include owners, designers and builders in the process of discovering the sustainability goals that we are willing to embrace.  With these priorities explicitly delineated, local resources are evaluated, including opportunities presented by the site itself, and recyclable materials and components that are locally available.  Next, the functional requirements of the building are reviewed to see if it is possible to reduce the demand from that standpoint. Then building loads are reduced, first through efficient envelope design, solar and efficient lighting integration and then through energy distribution system design.  The consideration of health impacts of materials choices, daylight and energy efficient lighting and fresh air systems.  Next, high efficiency equipment is selected with understanding of the reduced end loads.  Throughout the process and during future use of the building, continuous efforts must be made to reduce waste, improve health, use economical recycled and environmentally benign materials, and reduce the generation of pollutants.

Hickory’s 10 Steps for Sustainable Design

1. Develop Consensus on Sustainability Economics, Indicators, Values and Goals.
2. Establish & Prioritize Sustainability Vectors.
3. Develop a Base Case for Comparing Choices.
4. Identify Highest Priority Opportunities.
5. Incorporate Sustainability Goals in the Design Process.
6. Maintain goals through value engineering.
7. Incorporate Sustainability Goals in the Building Process.
8. Plan the process for communication, feedback, tracking, training, and flow.  Time based strategies save time and costs.
9. Measure the Results, Commission and Test.
10. Follow Through During Occupancy.

The Hickory Consortium uses several types of analysis in design and planning of buildings such as Erie-Ellington low income homes, The Maine Audubon Headquarters, Third Sector New England, The Lebanon food Coop, Wellfleet Audubon Sanctuary, Project Place Gatehouse, Cambridge Cohousing Project and Artists for Humanity Epicenter.  The selection of analysis method and tools depends on the type of building and the type of answer required.  Specific questions such as how much energy would be saved by adding more wall insulation, require analysis that can separate out the desired effect.  Similarly, estimating life cycle cost depends on the above plus economic analysis software.

Software used in these projects included Energy -10, RemDesign, Right-J, Visual DOE2, EQUEST, RETSCREEN, The NIST developed Building Life Cycle Cost program BLCC, and the Building Science Engineering developed Sustainability Rating System Spreadsheet. We use two versions of the life cycle cost equation.  The first is that used in BLCC, which includes energy escalation rates based on DOE projections, the second includes societal cost factors based on avoidance of pollution.  In either case, the Life Cycle Cost would be defined as the net present value of the project including initial costs, maintenance, energy, (societal), and replacement costs, using an 8% discount rate, a 30 year time horizon, and an 8% mortgage rate (other life cycle cost parameters may obtain in special circumstances).  The monetized costs of pollution are based on the EPA’s costs for each pollutant (SO2, CO2, NOX, VOC’s etc.).

Construction Principles for Successful Sustainable Projects

Though the steps above will lead to an exemplary building, the success of the project also depends on the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the construction process.  In this area of opportunity, a new approach to managing the construction process can be extremely productive.  It is our goal to not only facilitate an exceptional design process and the design itself, but to make sure the construction process goes smoothly and economically as well.

Time based management strategies have been developing over the last few years, and offer an opportunity to dramatically improve the realization of the design.  The goal is to include the things we want, while keeping the project’s budget under control. Hickory has developed the following ten building process guideline principles to help ensure a successful building project:

1. Prioritizing goals clarifies design and construction.

2. Describe the process you expect as well as the results you expect. Design intent is crucial.

3. The LEED design charrette must happen after sustainable priorities are set.

4. Pay for quality that counts: planning, materials, skills, equipment, and durability.

5. Tradeoff envelope, equipment, and systems improvements to save costs.  Capitalize on integration.

6. Handoffs are times of great peril. Extra communication is required whenever new personnel or trades arrive on the job. Having participants at the table reduces misunderstandigs.

7. Project management requires clear understanding of priorities, planning, and attention to detail.

8. Avoid adversarial process - Partnering works

9. Inspect frequently – shorten feedback loops.

10. Nurture jobsite culture – the system will self-organize benignly when workers understand project goals.

Appreciation of the potential economic benefits requires a new view of how energy and environmental costs impact building owners. The integrated design path has been well explored before now.  Incontrovertible results have been demonstrated in numerous buildings in federal and private studies.  Paying attention to energy and environment in the design of new buildings has a big payoff for the owners.

The full implementation of an environmentally conscious approach requires an on-going commitment through construction and during operation.  Education which increases awareness and monitoring of the building systems to know how well the ideas worked are two examples of ongoing tasks.  Recycling programs during operation and use of environmentally sound maintenance procedures and materials are additional examples.

For the project to be a long term success, the process must continue throughout the life of the building.  There is much outreach to be done - creating an understanding in the community of the principles, goals, and purpose of environmentally conscious design and living.  There is also a great deal to learn.  The integrated design process must integrate into the green living process; we must find ways to benefit the environment in the long term use of the building and in our daily lives.  While the building, as envisioned, provides a great foundation for creating such a world, it only represents a base from which to build.  Perhaps it will be a model for a sustainable world, a place to encourage learning, trying new things, spreading the news, the possibilities are all ahead. The building can acquire integrity through continued commitment to environmental, energy and health awareness.

We know instinctively that the whole building is greater than the sum of the parts.  Obviously there is a great deal of difference between a comfortable building and a pile of lumber.  Yet, trying to see the final product as a whole interconnected system is overwhelming.  Constructing a building that keeps the rain out and makes a profit are enough to demand the complete attention of the builder, but who can grasp the complexity of all the interactions between glass and walls, and energy and costs, comfort and environment?  Ideally, every new construction should be built with understanding of all the connections and interactions.  The best building is not simply the sturdiest and best looking, but the most comfortable, with the lowest owning and operating costs and the least environmental impact.   Hickory is expert in analyzing these interactions and understanding the impacts of choices on the whole building.  We'll help understand the interplay between construction issues and their impact on operation of the final product.  This will help make the best choices.

The sustainable buildings we build are cultural expressions of our hope for the future. Inherently, building a green building expresses our belief that a sustainable future is possible.  These buildings will last long into that future, and represent our best effort at anticipating the important issues of tomorrow. When we create a building such as this, we are creating an artifact that acts as a guidepost for others to follow. As Amory Lovins says, “If it’s been done, it must be possible!”.  Sustainably designed buildings exert a continuous pressure for change in society that persists into the future.  The quality we bring to our work and the vision we pursue will influence the lives of all those it touches over hundreds of years.  When we do that well, it will enhance our lives, today!