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High-Performance Buildings
Americans spend most of
their time inside
buildings. We take for
granted the shelter,
protection, warmth,
coolness, air and light
that buildings provide,
and rarely give a
thought to the systems
that deliver these
services unless there’s
a power interruption or
other problem. In
addition, few Americans
understand the
environmental
consequences of
maintaining indoor
comfort levels.
Today’s buildings
typically use mechanical
equipment powered by
electricity or fossil
fuels for lighting,
heating, cooling and
maintaining air quality.
Last year, buildings in
the U.S. consumed more
than one-third of the
nation’s energy and
contributed 36 percent
of the carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions released
into the atmosphere.
Fossil fuels burned to
generate electricity and
condition buildings emit
other pollutants that
cost citizens and
insurance companies
millions of dollars in
health care costs each
year. Mining and
extraction of fossil
fuels also have
environmental impacts,
and instability in
pricing causes concern
among both business
people and homeowners.
Creating buildings that
use less energy not only
reduces and stabilizes
costs, but also reduces
environmental impact.
The good news is that we
have the knowledge and
technologies to reduce
energy use in our homes
and workplaces without
compromising comfort and
aesthetics. The bad news
is that we are not
taking full advantage of
these advances—buildings
are typically designed
and operated without
considering all the
environmental impacts.
Whole-Building Design
For decades, researchers and innovative designers and builders have created buildings that use the environment as a resource rather than an obstacle to be overcome. Over the years, building professionals have steadily refined the equipment and design strategies used in these environmentally responsive buildings. This evolutionary process and the resulting body of knowledge has led to the concept of “whole-building” design.
In the whole-building
approach, designers
create a computer model
of a structure during
the early stages of the
design process. Using
this model, together
with improved
communication among
the various players in the design/build process, designers can integrate disparate building elements into the most energy-efficient, cost-effective and comfortable building possible. The goal is to minimize the building’s impact on the environment, and quite often the results are remarkable—dramatic savings in energy use without a substantial increase in design and construction costs. As a bonus, these buildings can improve the health, comfort and productivity of occupants in measurable ways. In commercial buildings, dollar savings from increases in productivity and reduced absenteeism can dwarf savings from reduced energy use. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) began working with the commercial buildings industry to develop a 20-year plan for research and development on energy-efficient commercial buildings. More than 250 people from 150 building organizations worked together to create a technology roadmap report recommending strategies for making commercial buildings more energy efficient. The overall goal of DOE’s High-Performance Buildings Program is better buildings that save energy and provide a quality, comfortable environment for workers. The program is targeted toward the building community, especially building owners, engineers and architects. Encourage building professionals to submit new commercial buildings to be a part of the High-Performance Building program. To participate, you must start very early in the design phase—before any other work is done—and must anticipate a 70% or more energy cost reduction. Design Approach A high-performance commercial building is a building with energy, economic, and environmental performance that is substantially better than standard practice. It's energy efficient, so it saves money and natural resources. It's a healthy place to live and work for its occupants and has relatively low impact on the environment. All this is achieved through a process called whole-building design. Design Guidelines Whole-building commercial design considers all building components during the design phase. It integrates all the subsystems and parts of the building to work together. Because all the pieces must fit together, it is essential that the design team be fully integrated from the beginning of the process. The building design team can include architects, engineers, building occupants and owners, and specialists in areas such as indoor air quality, materials, and energy use.
Whole-building design
takes into consideration
the building structure
and systems as a whole
and examines how these
systems work best
together to save energy
and reduce environmental
impact. For example, a
building that uses
extensive daylighting
techniques will reduce
the amount of heat given
off by lighting
fixtures, thus allowing
for a smaller air
conditioning system.
This whole-building
philosophy considers
site, energy, materials,
indoor air quality,
acoustics, natural
resources, and their
interrelation.
This approach brings
together building
design, energy
efficiency, and today's
solar technologies to
boost your energy
savings and make the
most of all your
building's elements. It
reduces the amount of
energy required to
operate a building
compared to conventional
buildings. It improves
the comfort of building
occupants by using
pleasing architectural
designs to brighten up
work areas using
sunlight rather than
electricity, without
causing excess glare.
What are the benefits of whole-building design?
Commercial buildings
consume 17% of the total
energy consumed in the
United States. By
creating buildings that
use less energy and have
lower power demands,
greater robustness of
the buildings as well as
the power grid is
achieved. This reduces
the need for fossil
fuels and consequential
environmental impact.
Benefits of
whole-building design
include:
How much does it cost? There is a growing interest today on the part of commercial building owners, facilities managers, architects, engineers, and builders to design and construct the best possible building for the allotted budget. Depending on the aggressiveness of the design, experience has shown that it costs no more than 10% more to build high-performance buildings. Some high-performance buildings cost less to construct. Sometimes additional costs can be procured using cost-benefits ratios and life-cycle costing. The added cost, if any, of system investment each year is compared to the cost of fuel saved each year. Total energy costs are, on average, about 50% less than those for conventionally designed buildings. In many cases, the right-sizing of mechanical systems through passive solar design offsets the costs for additional windows or controls. Design Approach: Frequently Asked Questions 1. Will the building look unusual? Many owners want to make a statement with whole-building design and sustainable features. Many other owners, however, are creating these buildings at little or no additional cost that appear no different from conventional designs.
2. Is
"whole-building" the
same as energy
efficiency?
Energy efficiency does figure prominently in our designs, but there are many other aspects to design. The whole-building concepts looks to integrating all disciplines to meet a set of goals for a building.
3. Are these
buildings just for large
corporations?
Many of the early adopters were municipalities and government agencies that recognized the opportunities for life cycle cost savings. Anyone can benefit from whole-building design.
4. Is there
a market demand for
whole-building design?
Yes. Corporations, universities, and government agencies are demonstrating that whole-building design can provide better working environments and cost less to operate. Students, employees, and non-profit community groups are all demanding and campaigning for the adoption of low-energy buildings.
5. If I
decide to "go green,"
won't I have to come up
with more money?
Not necessarily. Some prescriptive requirements, such as use of Photovoltaics, may drive higher project costs, but several owners have published data demonstrating their success in procuring green buildings for less than the cost of a conventional building. Look around for incentives. These include incentives from local utility companies tied to energy efficiency, grants for renewable energy installations, and various tax rebate programs.
6. Isn't
whole-building design
based on fringe
technologies?
Most projects have achieved good performance using conventional building systems. In many instances, it is the effective integration of conventional systems, rather than the use of a new technology, that conserves resources and improves environmental quality. New technologies are only used after careful consultation with owners and the design team.
7. If it
hasn't been done before,
isn't it hard to do?
Whole-building projects are demonstrating that it's not hard. For example, the fact that very few commercial buildings employ natural ventilation does not mean that it cannot effectively deliver satisfactory comfort year-round in many climates. In many circumstances, the techniques were used extensively before wide-spread use of air-conditioning.
8. How can
you get high-quality
materials and systems
and good environmental
performance at the same
time?
Removing highly toxic chemicals from a product or designing a fixture to use less water does NOT mean that the product will be less effective or have a shorter life. Design Guidelines A high performance commercial building design strategy requires a clear definition of goals and performance benchmarks from the owner and an inter-disciplinary design and construction approach. Design criteria should be based on environmental and energy cost/benefit analyses and attention to "whole-building" and system performance Predesign Because all commercial building components must work together successfully long after project completion, it is essential that sufficient time be set aside in the beginning of a project for design team development, goal setting, and project planning. A sustainable building can only be accomplished when everyone (the building owner, future occupants, design team) have the same energy and environmental goals for the project from the start. In short, everyone that is affected by this building in a decision making position should be involved at the project's beginning. Ultimately, the building owner is responsible for setting the goals and their implementation. It is the design team's responsibility to translate goals and budget for the project into measurable benchmarks for design, construction, and operations so the project will be successful. Design Traditionally, commercial building design choices are based on budget or time considerations. Single building components are added or deleted to meet time or budget constraints without evaluating their impact on total building performance. Yet basic design goals such as minimizing energy consumption or maximizing daylight cannot be done without understanding the impact of interrelations between parts of the building including window glazing systems, thermal envelope, mechanical system integration, orientation, and floor plate proportions. High performance building design must ensure complete integration to achieve optimal building performance. These interrelations are very complex. As a result, computerized simulation studies are necessary to properly account for interrelationships. Water and resource conservation along with recycled, reusable, and nontoxic sustainable materials should also be considered in the design stage.
Construction
Building construction is an act of creation than begins long before the first shovel is placed in the ground. It begins with a statement of design intent, followed by creation of a performance program. Once these are approved, the process concludes with drawings and specifications then finally building commissioning during occupancy. Although simplified, below are some general guidelines:
Statement of intent — A
good statement of intent
will clearly set forth
the goals of the
project, current and
possible future uses for
the building, as well as
include a description of
how building systems are
to perform. Clearly
defined goals and
objectives here will
help in the bidding
process later on.
Performance program —
The performance program
is the strategy for
implementing the goals
established by the
statement of intent,
such as budget, space
planning, integrated
building systems, and
other specific needs. It
will also set
performance goals for
systems such as lighting
wattage per square foot
and include such
amendments as
elimination of toxic
materials. Several
building rating systems
exist that can be used
to write the performance
programs, such as the
U.S. Green Building
Council's Leadership in
Energy and Environmental
Design or LEED rating
system.
Drawings and
specifications — These
record the design
intent. Most design
firms use the format
created by the
Construction Specifiers
Institute (CSI).
However, keep in mind
that for
high-performance
buildings, you will need
to add "integrated
systems drawings" and
supporting documents
that will illustrate how
different building
components relate to and
impact each other.
Specifications that
accompany the drawings
must clearly explain the
design intent,
especially if a project
includes unusual or
innovative practices or
requirements.
Building commissioning —
This is the process of
ensuring that building
systems such as
air-handling equipment,
security systems, and
elevators are designed,
installed, functionally
tested and capable of
being operated and
maintained according to
the owner's operational
needs. Commissioning
begins in the design
stage and extends at
least one year into the
initial occupancy of the
building. This process
ensures that the
building is operating as
designed. It also saves
building owners money by
keeping equipment and
building systems
compliant with
warrantees, prevents
future excessive
repairs, reconfiguration
and replacement costs,
employee absenteeism due
to uncomfortable work
environments with poor
air quality, and
frequent tenant
turnover.
For the best inspector
in your neighborhood
visit
www.InspectorLocator.com
or call 1-877 FIND-INS.
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George Timmerman CHI - CMIA* 280 Kemp RD * Suwanee GA 30024 * (770) 495-4870 |