What is Green Building?

Index

What is Green Building?

Green building is a whole-systems-approach incorporating a building’s siting, design, construction, and operations in ways to enhance the well-being of the occupants and preserve our environment for future generations by conserving natural resources and protecting air and water quality. In practical terms, green building includes the following key principles:

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is the cornerstone of every green home. For homeowners an energy efficient house saves money by reducing utility bills year after year, reducing the occupants’ carbon footprint, and providing other valuable benefits. Improving energy efficiency and using renewable energy sources are also effective ways to reduce the building sector’s contribution to global warming, slow the rate at which we need to build new power plants and lower the potential of energy supply interruptions.

Resource Efficiency

Conventional buildings’ construction and operation consume large quantities of wood, water, metals, fossil fuels and other natural resources. Even though the majority of the materials used to build a home are put to good use, vast quantities of resources are wasted. In fact, building an average 2,000-sq. ft. house produces about 7,000 pounds of waste. There are many effective building strategies that reduce waste, conserve natural resources, and save money, among other benefits.

Indoor Air Quality

On average Americans spend 90% of their time indoors, yet the air in new homes can be ten times more polluted than outdoor air, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A common source of indoor air pollution is the offgassing of chemicals from building materials. Fortunately, the building products industry is responding to these indoor pollution problems by developing safer products. Safer paints, cleaners, adhesives and other products that are low in the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that lead to offgassing are now commonly available from most major suppliers at costs comparable to conventional products.

Finally, green building strategies are good for everyone's pocketbook. These strategies reduce maintenance, replacement requirements, and utility bills - lowering the over all cost of home ownership, and increasing property and resale values.

Whole House Systems Approach

The individual components of a house interact as a system in regards to energy use and comfort. A home that is well sealed to prevent heat or cooling loss creates a need for supplemental ventilation to bring in fresh air. Lights and appliances that generate heat can increase the homes required cooling loads. Even how the house is situated on the site, if the blinds are left up or down, and other seemingly irrelevant components have an impact. A whole house systems approach takes the impact of each component relative to the others, and to the overall house, into consideration. With this approach everything from appliances, home electronics, insulation, air sealing, lighting and daylighting, space heating and cooling, water heating, windows, doors, skylights, etc are regarded in terms of their impact on the system as a whole, and how that system functions to deliver overall energy efficiency and comfort.

Green Building Timeline

Pre-20th Century – Earlier in history structures were designed and built by builder/architects who were involved with the structure from design through construction and lifetime operations. As there were no other options these builder/architects used passive design that took advantage of the naturally provided resources of the sun and climate to heat, cool and light their buildings. Architects today are beginning to look back upon these ideas to relearn the basics of climatic/passive design.

1930s – New building technologies began to transform the urban landscape. The advent of air conditioning, low-wattage fluorescent lighting, structural steel, and reflective glass made it possible for enclosed structures that could be heated and cooled with massive systems powered by cheap fossil fuels. These technologies were viewed as great advancements in the field, but sadly resulted in architects ignoring the natural environment and its interaction with buildings and occupants. Furthermore, prefessionals were required to become more specialized as the industry grew more complex. This specialization resulted in the loss of the whole systems approach that had been inherent with the builder/architect, and has resulted in all sorts of unanticipated inefficiencies throughout the various stages of a buildings life: design, construction, operation, etc... This situation will only begin to be addressed at the start of the 21st Century through the introduction of the integrated design process.

1970s – The 1970s marked the beginning of a new movement in the building and energy efficiency industries. A small group of forward-thinking architects, environmentalists, and ecologists inspired by the work of Victor Olgyay (Design with Climate), Ralph Knowles (Form and Stability), and Rachel Carson (Silent Spring), began to question the logic of building in manner of the times.

1973 – In response to the energy crisis, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) formed an energy task force to study energy efficient design strategies. Later this would become the AIA Committee on Energy (COTE).

1977 – The Department of Energy was created to address energy usage and conservation nationally.

1977 – The Solar Energy Research Institute was founded, later to become the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO.

1980 – The Passive Solar Industries Council was founded by the major building trade associations, later this became the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC).

1987 – The U.N. World Commission on the Environment and Development provided the first definition of the term “sustainable development,” defined as that which “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

1989 – The AIA Energy Committee became the AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE).

1990 – Austin, Texas launches the first municipal green building program.

1992 – AIA publishes the Environmental Resource Guide, the first assessment of building products based on life cycle analysis, and resulting in a few initial building product manufacturers becoming aware of the environmental impacts of their products and implementing early strategies to reduce them,

1992 – The U.N. holds the Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, otherwise known as the “Earth Summit, ” The conference results in the passage of Agenda 21, a blueprint for achieving global sustainability, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and statements on forest principles, climate change, and biodiversity.

1992 – The Austin Green Building Program receives the Rio Earth Summit Award for the most innovative government environmental programs in the world. Of the ten awarded this is the only one given to a U.S. program.

1993 – Inspired at the Earth Summit, the AIA president-elect chose “Designing for a Sustainable Future’ as the theme for the International Union of Architects (UIA)/AIA World Congress of Architects meeting. During the proceedings the AIA President, Susan Maxman, and UIA President, Olufemi Majekodunmi, signed the Declaration of Interdependence for a Sustainable Future. Today, this convention is recognized as a turning point in the history of the green building movement.

1993 – Greening of the White House: President Bill Clinton announces plans to make the presidential mansion “a model for efficiency and waste reduction.” This encourages the greening of other government facilities including: the Pentagon, the Presidio, and the U.S. Department of Energy Headquarters, and park buildings at the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Alaska’s Denali

1993 – The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is founded.

1994 – City of Boulder, CO, launches the GreenPoints program.

1995 – The Built Green Colorado program is launched in Denver, CO.

1997 – Build a Better Kitsap program is launched in Kitsap County, WA.

1997 – The U.S. Navy initiates the development of the Whole Building Design Guide, an online resource that incorporates sustainability requirements into mainstream specifications and guidelines, and begins incorporating sustainable design into the majority of their new projects.

1998 – The Green Building Challenge: Representatives from 14 nations meet to create an international assessment tool that takes into account regional and national environmental, economic, and social equity conditions.

1998 – Build a Better Clark is launched in Clark County, WA.

1998 – The City of Scottsdale, AZ, launched the Sustainable Building Program

1998 – AIA/COTE began the Top 10 Green Projects Awards to call attention to successful sustainable design.

1998 – President Clinton issued the first of three “greening buildings” executive orders.

1999 – Earth Craft House is launched in Atlanta, GA.

1999 – Executive Order 12852 established the President Council on Sustainable Development whose final report recommended 140 actions to improve the nation’s environment, of which many related to building sustainability.

2000 – An increasing number of municipalities and corporations begin to demand and set internal standards for green building within their organizations. Growth in green building organizations, attendance at professional conferences, and consumer awareness grows exponentially.

Today’s Challenge: Existing Housing

If we as a society are to achieve the sorts of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that climate scientists tell us are needed to prevent catastrophic climate change, we need to address reducing the carbon footprints of our existing housing stock. There are about 103 million existing houses in the country. The median age of all housing units is 24 years (built in approximately 1973). The greenhouse gas emissions associated with residential energy use in the U.S. in 2005 totaled 330 million metric tons of carbon equivalent. This represents 20.5% of total carbon emissions for the U.S. and nearly equals the total carbon emissions of Japan, whose economy ranks only second to the U.S. Of the carbon dioxide production attributed to homes, 70% is from electricity.

According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 30% of the expected global growth in emissions related to buildings before 2030 could be avoided, with a positive economic benefit. Greening existing buildings provides a greater opportunity for energy savings then greening only new construction. A reasonable target is to reduce the energy use in existing homes by one-half to two-thirds of their current use (the greater savings achievable only with homes that start out with very poor performance). This necessitates addressing the house as a whole system. The most important element to address is the building envelope, made up of the foundation, walls, windows, and roof. However, the equipment for heating, cooling, and water heating as well as lighting, appliances, and electronics (including entertainment and computer equipment) all have an impact. This course prioritizes the key features of the home based on budget and impact; allowing you to do as much as possible depending on your goals, budget and the condition of your home.

The biggest challenges for green home improvements are cost and skilled labor. Through this program, we have created partnerships and city resource guides to help bring down green remodeling costs and facilitate the search for quality contractors and products. Still, there is more to be done. However, all of us need to encourage the use of energy efficient mortgages and home loans, outright grants, and performance-based tax incentives. We need our political leaders to see the benefits these investments provide in the way of energy security, protection against rising energy costs, and environmental stewardship. Your participation in this program is one step towards the goal of improving our existing housing stock and controlling carbon emissions.