The Green Building

The Green Building:

WHAT IS A GREEN BUILDING?

A green building is one where the qualities of both the indoor and outdoor environments have been considered and protected during its design, construction, maintenance and use.

SITE-SENSITIVE,

Site selection & planning, landscaping, storm water management, construction and demolition recycling.

 1, Make more efficient use of space in existing occupied buildings, renovate and re-use existing vacant

buildings, sites, and associated infrastructure and consider re-development of brownfield sites. Design

buildings and renovations to maximize future flexibility and reuse thereby expanding useful life.http://nebulaedeveloper.com/

2, Evaluate each site in terms of the location and orientation of buildings and improvements in order to

optimize the use of passive solar energy, natural daylighting, and natural breezes and ventilation.

3, Use landscape design to preserve and restore the region’s natural habitat and heritage while emphasizingthe use of indigenous, hardy, drought resistant trees, shrubs, plants and turf.

PROTECTIVE OF NATURAL RESOURCES,

Materials reuse, efficient building systems, use of recycled and rapidly renewable materials,

1, Minimize the use of non-renewable construction materials and other resources such as energy and water through

efficient engineering, design, planning and construction and effective recycling of construction debris.

Maximize the use of recycled content materials, modern resource efficient engineered materials, and resource

efficient composite type structural systems wherever possible. Maximize the use of re-usable, renewable,

sustainably managed, bio-based materials. Remember that human creativity and our abundant labor force is

perhaps our most valuable renewable resource. The best solution is not necessarily the one that requires the

least amount of physical work.

2, Identify ways to use high-recycled content materials in the building structure and finishes. Consider

everything from blended concrete using fly ash, slag, recycled concrete aggregate, or other admixtures

to recycled content materials such as structural steel, ceiling and floor tiles, carpeting, carpet padding,

sheathing, and gypsum wallboard. Consider remanufactured office furniture and office partition

systems, chairs and furniture with recycled content or parts.

3, Recognize that transportation becomes part of a product or building materials embodied energy. Where

practical, specify and use locally harvested, mined and manufactured materials and products to support

the regional economy and to reduce transportation, energy use and emissions.

ENERGY EFFICIENT,

Low energy usage, clean/renewable energy.

1, Optimize passive solar orientation, building massing and use of external shading devices such that the

design of the building minimizes undesirable solar gains during the summer months while maximizing

desirable solar gains during winter months.

2,  Optimize building orientation, massing, shape, design, and interior colors and finishes in order to

maximize the use of controlled natural day lighting which significantly reduces artificial lighting energy

use thereby reducing the buildings internal cooling load and energy use. Consider the use of light shelf

technology.

3,  Use state-of-the art, high efficiency, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and plumbing

equipment, chillers, boilers, and water heaters, etc. Use variable speed drives on fan and pump motors.

Use heat recovery ventilators and geothermal heat pump technology for up to 40% energy savings.

4,Avoid the use of HCFC and Halon based refrigeration, cooling and fire suppression systems. Optimize

the use of natural ventilation and where practical use evaporative cooling, waste heat and/or solar

regenerated desiccant dehumidification or absorption cooling. Identify and use sources of waste energy.

5,  Use Energy Star certified energy efficient appliances, office equipment, lighting and HVAC systems.

6,  Consider on-site small-scale wind, solar, and/or fuel cell based energy generation and co-generation.

Purchase environmentally preferable “green” power from certified renewable and sustainable sources.

WATER EFFICIENT,

Efficient fixtures, waste water reuse, efficient irrigation,

1, Tips For Conserving Water: One drop of water wasted per second wastes nearly 3,000 gallons per year.

Recognize that the least costly, least time consuming and most environmentally preferable design for

site and storm water management is often the one in which the design of buildings and site

improvements respect the existing natural flows and features of the land, instead of designing the

building and site improvements with total disregard for the site, which results in needless, extensive,

disruptive, costly and time consuming excavation and earthmoving.

2,Establish a water budget for the building and implement a design that minimizes the use of potable water by using low-flow plumbing fixtures and toilets and waterless urinals. Harvest, process and recycle rainwater, site storm water, and building gray http://nebulaedeveloper.com/water and identify appropriate uses within the building and site. Use on-site treatment systems that enable use of rain water for hand washing, gray water for toilet flushing, rain and storm water for site irrigation, cooling tower make-up and other uses.

Conserve water and preserve site and ground water quality by using only indigenous, drought resistant and hardy trees, shrubs, plants and turf that require no irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.

3,Conserve water and preserve site and ground water quality by using only indigenous, drought resistant

and hardy trees, shrubs, plants and turf that require no irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.

HEALTHIER INDOOR ENVIRONMENT

Improved indoor air quality, increased day lighting, better thermal comfort/control, no HCFCs or CFCs.

1, Provide a healthy, comfortable and productive indoor environment for building occupants and visitors. Provide a building design, which affords the best possible conditions in terms of indoor air quality, ventilation, thermal comfort, access to natural ventilation and day lighting, and effective control of the acoustical environment.

2, Maximize the use of natural day lighting. Optimize solar orientation and design the building to maximize penetration of natural daylight into interior spaces. Provide shades or daylight controls where needed.

3,  Maximize the use of operable windows and natural ventilation. Provide dedicated engineered ventilation systems that operate independently of the buildings heating and cooling system. Ventilation systems should be capable of effectively removing or treating indoor contaminants while providing adequate amounts of fresh clean make-up air to all occupants and all regions of the building. Monitor indoor air conditions including temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels, so that building

ventilation systems can respond when space conditions fall outside the optimum range.

4, Provide a smoke free building. When smoking must be accommodated, provide completely dedicated smoking areas are physically isolated, have dedicated HVAC systems, and remain under negative pressure with respect to all adjoining spaces. Assure that air from smoking areas does not get distributed to other areas of the building does not re-enter the building through doors or vestibules, operable windows, or building fresh air intakes.. Locate outdoor smoking areas so that non-smokers do

not have to pass through these areas when using primary building entrances or exits.

5,  Design building envelope and environmental systems that not only treat air temperature and provide adequate ventilation, but which respect all of the environmental conditions which affect human thermal comfort and health, including the mean radiant temperature of interior surfaces, indoor air humidity, indoor air velocity, and indoor air temperature. Following these principles and providing a building that is also responsive to seasonal variations in desirable indoor humidity levels, air velocity, and mean

radiant temperatures can also result in significant energy savings as improved occupant comfort results in less energy intensive operation of the buildings air-side heating and cooling system.

6, Maximize occupant health, comfort and performance by providing occupants with individual space/zone

control of heat, ventilation, cooling, day-lighting and artificial lighting whenever possible.