Green Building Guidelines Research Articles

Constructors and innovation credits in green building projects

Purpose – As green buildings have become more widely accepted, constructors (general contractors, construction managers and subcontractors) have become more involved and are playing an increasing role in the success of these projects. As a result, constructors need and want a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects, while exploring ways to provide a “value‐added” service to the projects. Past research has identified “Innovation in Design (ID)” credits as a potential “value‐added opportunity” for constructors to become preferred members of LEED project teams. Similar opportunities may also exist on Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) project teams. This paper seeks to address these issues.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology encompassed an overview of “Innovation Credits (IC)” in LEED‐NC, BREEAM green building guidelines and an analysis of the ID category in LEED‐NC from a constru...

Soil microarthropod community dynamics in extensive green roofs

Green roofs are of increasing interest to ecologists, engineers and architects, as cities grow and aim to become more sustainable. They could be exploited to improve urban biodiversity and ecosystem services, yet almost nothing is known about them from a soil community ecology perspective, despite how critical soil food webs are to ecosystem functioning. This paper provides the first comprehensive study incorporating the annual cycle of green roof soil microarthropods.Microarthropod communities were monitored over 14 months on two extensive green roofs. Abiotic factors, including substrate moisture, were recorded, as were biotic factors such as plant and mycorrhizal colonisation. Microarthropod interactions with these variables were then examined.Microarthropod diversity was low overall, with a few dominant species peaking seasonally. On occasion, total abundance was comparable to other early successional soils. The majority of species present were drought tolerant collembola and xerophillic mites, suggesting that moisture levels on green roofs are a major limiting factor for soil microarthropods.Our results suggest that the microarthropod community present in extensive green roof soils is impoverished, limiting the success of above-ground flora and fauna and ultimately the success of the roof as an urban habitat. We conclude that green roof building guidelines should incorporate soil communities in their design and should aim to be heterogeneous at the roof and landscape level, for the purpose of supporting soil biodiversity and creating sustainable habitats.

Hot topics in architectural acoustics.

In recent years, there has been a surge of research and policy‐making motivated by the grand challenges of environmental sustainability and societal health. Two hot topics in these areas that have a direct relationship to architectural acoustics are green buildings and hospitals. The green building movement centers around designing buildings that are more sustainable in order to decrease energy consumption, minimize environmental impact, and create healthier spaces for occupants. In the area of hospital acoustics, there is strong and growing evidence of the negative psychological and physiological impacts of a poor hospital soundscape on patients, staff, and visitors. Unique materials, systems, and technologies are being utilized in both green design and hospital design to satisfy the complex requirements, including unique acoustic requirements, of these spaces. Much effort is being put toward specifically incorporating acoustics into the various green building and hospital design guidelines.

Understanding Green Building Guidelines for Students and Young Professionals

Understanding Green Building Guidelines for Students and Young Professionals

Understanding green building guidelines: for students and young professionals

Many professions are increasingly producing tools to assist clients in breaking down and understanding the different elements that reside under the umbrella of the sustainability movement. For the design and construction professions, this unpacking often takes the form of green building guidelines and rating systems. This book aims to look at a selection of both national and local green building rating systems and guidelines, ranging from commercial to residential. While the goal is to provide students and young professionals with a solid overview of each product, enabling them to understand the differences and select the most appropriate system for their chosen projects, the book provides valuable overviews and comparisons for anyone interested in better buildings: designers, homeowners, realtors, contractors, facility managers, site designers, and more.

High performance development as distributed generation

The markets of renewable energy, distributed generation, manufactured systems, design and construction engineering, and sustainable development are fast approaching a crossroads, creating an environment to make high-performance development as distributed generation economically and technically feasible. Difficulties in siting of energy infrastructure in the United States and abroad further encourage the use of distributed and on-site generation. The economies of scale that are typically required when considering sustainable practices can be compared to designing large campuses of multiple building types. According to Arthur C. Nelson of the Brookings Institution, 2030 about half of all facilities in the USA will have been built after 2000, this generation has a vital opportunity to reshape future development. Developers and urban planners may finally have a key ingredient to creating sustainable cities: high-performance development as distributed generation. The design and construction of high performance development as distributed generation requires that complex structures and systems are integrated with the development to enable it to produce more electrical energy than it consumes. Energy usage can be minimized by using passive, low energy, and efficient building systems. Onsite power production can be maximized by the balance of distributed renewable and cogeneration energy resources corresponding to its geographic location. Existing strategies in sustainable development and green building guidelines are effective energy conservation measures. Existing technologies consisting of building integrated photovoltaic arrays, roof mounted vertical axis wind turbines, and combined heat and power systems can be integrated with a building automation system to provide a sustainable source of energy. Creating developments that have a long term net-benefit of electrical energy will be a powerful tool in providing a plentiful and consistent supply of electricity for future generations.

Comparison of USGBC LEED for Homes and the NAHB National Green Building Program

This paper reviews the green certification of residential construction under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) National Green Building Program, which consists of Model Green Building Guidelines and the National Green Building Standard. LEED for Homes, the NAHB Guidelines, and the Standard are applicable for single-family homes. Six of the major divisions in both LEED and the NAHB Guidelines and Standard are very similar: LEED for Homes requires prerequisites with a minimum of points in some major divisions and a minimum of total points required for each designation. The NAHB Guidelines and the Standard have some general requirements, and both require a minimum number of points for each major division for each designation level. LEED for Homes, the NAHB Guidelines and the Standard have adjustments for house size and require a minimum of two field inspections by either a Green Rater or a Verifier. Third-party inspections and testing of a building's energy efficiency appear to be critical to a project's success. The minimum additional cost to certify a green home with a base price of approximately $150,000 is approximately $7,450 for LEED for Homes, $2,550 for the Guidelines, and $2,650 for the Standard.

Adoption of Green Building Guidelines in Developing Countries Based on U.S. and India Experiences

In the wake of sustainable construction entering the mainstream, many developing countries are either currently pursuing green building guidelines or are planning to pursue them in the near future. This research attempts to formulate an implementation strategy for the rapid adoption of these guidelines for the developing nations. This implementation strategy is based on the detailed review of the major green building guidelines globally and contextual information of Indian society collected through a survey questionnaire. The proposed strategy shows that it is important for green building initiatives to identify: the organizations that accelerate the adoption of green building guidelines in a society, the incentives and barriers associated with the green building guidelines, and the necessary motivations for the adopter organizations. An informed approach in the form of this implementation strategy might potentially contribute to the acceleration of green building guidelines' adoption in developing countries.

Emergence of green building guidelines in developed countries and their impact on India

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics of green building guidelines in developed countries and to analyze their influence on the evolution and adoption of similar guidelines in India.Design/methodology/approachThis research reviews the green building guidelines in the developed as well as the developing countries such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design guidelines for new construction (LEED® NC‐USA), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM)‐UK, Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE)‐Japan, and LEED®‐India and further performs a comparative analysis of these guidelines.FindingsBased on the comparative analysis of LEED® NC‐USA, BREEAM‐UK, and CASBEE‐Japan, the characteristics that might have affected their current acceptance were identified. The catalysts and hindrances associated with the acceptance of LEED‐India in India were identified based on the comparative analysis of LEED® NC‐USA and LEED®‐India.Originality/valueWith an exponential growth of construction industry in the rapidly developing countries, there is a definite need to promote the adoption of green building guidelines. The methodology adopted in this research can be applied to understand the evolution as well as future adoption of green building guidelines in other countries that are facing similar circumstances.

Bringing Green Homes within Reach: Healthier Housing for More People

Gaze upon the Helliers’ half-built house in Bristol, Vermont, and you might think you’re looking at an ordinary home construction project. Table saws, building materials, and piles of earth lie around the newly framed dwelling, while a crew of carpenters mills around the site, dressed for warmth in the chilly fall air. But look closer, and some unique features emerge. The exterior frame is wrapped in an outer layer of heat-trapping insulation. Sunshine streams in through large, south-facing windows, flooding the interior living spaces with light. Once the house is completed, solar panels will supply the family’s hot water and much of its electrical power. And indoor finishes, paints, rugs, and fabrics will be nontoxic. In short, the Helliers’ house is being built to be green. And that puts it in good company; new green homes jumped in number by 30% between 2005 and 2006 and could include up to 5% of the entire U.S. housing market within five years, predicts McGraw-Hill Construction, an industry information provider, in its June 2006 Residential Green Building SmartMarket Report. That makes green homes bright spots in an otherwise dismal housing market facing its worst slump in decades. To everyone’s benefit, green homes link sustainable materials and practices with better human and environmental health. “You’re really looking at a tripod of components,” says David Johnston, president of green building consultancy What’s Working and author of Green from the Ground Up, a forthcoming book on sustainable residential design. “First, energy efficiency has to be above minimal code requirements for your climate. The second component has to do with improved water and resource efficiency, and the third concerns indoor air quality. If your design doesn’t address all three of these issues, then you don’t have a green home.” According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Air and Radiation, indoor air is typically 2–5 times more polluted than outdoor air, owing to the presence of asthma-inducing agents such as mold and toxic chemicals in carpets, paints, and other synthetic materials. In fact, the EPA ranks indoor air as one of the top five human health risks, says agency spokesperson Dave Ryan. By requiring nontoxic materials, green designs limit indoor exposure to carcinogens such as formaldehyde in manufactured wood products including sheathing and particleboard, and to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in finishes. Home energy uses also contribute to global warming. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) in Washington, DC, estimates that domestic power demands account for 21% of all the greenhouse gases emitted in the United States. The construction industry as a whole accounts for 48% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to advocacy group Architecture 2030. And by optimizing insulation, green designs save on oil and gas bills, which are (quite literally in poorly insulated homes) going through the roof. But even as green homes gain in popularity, they’re also dogged by a sticky association with the rich, seen by many as too pricey for ordinary buyers. Indeed, McGraw-Hill Construction identified cost perceptions as a top obstacle to green building among homeowners and builders alike. Fueling that preoccupation with cost is a media obsession with “eco-mansions,” laments Charles Lockwood, a green building consultant in Los Angeles and New York. “Most of what you see in the press would leave you thinking you’d have to live in Malibu or Aspen to afford one of these places,” he says. To wit: the Maine Sunday Telegram in Portland ran a feature on 4 November 2007 titled “Unaffordably Green?” about a $1 million ultra-green home in nearby Freeport that was unsold after a year on the market. Christopher Briley, an architect with Green Design Studio in Yarmouth, Maine, concedes that most people who build their own houses have above-average incomes (McGraw-Hill Construction’s SmartMarket Report shows that nearly two-thirds of those who buy green homes make more than $50,000 a year). And buyers with more money to spend, Briley says, are apt to mix green design elements in with a host of other more expensive features—radiant floors and granite countertops, for instance—that skew costs higher. “A lot of these houses are going to be expensive anyway,” he says. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t have an affordable green house. It’s all about where you decide to spend your money.”