What is a 'green' building?
Today, this answer may be easier to answer than a few years back. An article
was published recently in ISRATIMES which gives a fairly good answer
to this question by looking at a building holistically and broadly. [read
in PDF]
In terms of following certain guidelines or complying with certain requirements
that will obtain a building the status 'green', one will find in Europe
(and in Greece starting January 4, 2009), that 'green' buildings are those
that comply with the EU
Directive 2002/91
for the energy performance of buildings and is verified by the Intelligent
Energy Europe tools, or if it is non-residential it is awarded a GreenBuilding
partner status, or complies with the Passive
House concept, or applies the CEN
standards for construction,
energy,
and the environment.
In the US, and many parts of the world, 'green' buildings are considered
those that have been certified under the Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System,
or are designed based on the Green Building Guidelines of the Sustainable
Buildings Industry Council (SBIC). In Israel 'green' buildings are considered
those that have been designed, built and operate by the new Isreali Standard
5281 for 'Buildings with reduced environmental impact" (or 'Green
buildings') and have gathered 55-74 points ('green' building) or 75 points
and more ('green' building with distinction). In the UK 'green' buildings
follow the Building Research
Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and tools, and
the Environmental
Profiles Methodology, a standardised method of identifying and assessing
the environmental effects associated with building materials based on Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA) - that is their extraction, processing, use and
maintenance, and their eventual disposal. In Japan and Asia, the CASBEE
assessment system is used.
Recently, two new sets of regulations were voted in Greece. One with regard
to the Energy Conservation in Buildings (FEK
407B / 9.4.2010) and the other for the Recycling of construction debris
(FEK
1312B / 24.8.2010). Both after a long delay of more than 6 years.
Recently, the National Association
of Home Builders introduced a new set of building guidelines called
'Green
Home Buidling', and a 'green' rating
system and a practical assessment
tool for architects and contractors.
On a local government level, building 'green' is what the International
Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)-Local Governments
for Sustainability strive for, namely, help local governments, national
and regional local government organizations to achieve sustainable development,
with tools and platforms, such as Local
Sustainability. Also, what the Aalborg
committments which were signed by more than 500 local governments, promoting
sustainable development in local governments, that define 'green' building
as follows (theme 5: Planning and Design):
Strategic role for urban planning and design in addressing environmental,
social, economic, health and cultural issues for the benefit of all:
1. re-use and regenerate derelict or disadvantaged areas.
- Reduced proportion of unfit residential and commercial buildings.
- Increase in the number of services and infrastructure facilities within
regeneration areas.
2. avoid urban sprawl, achieving appropriate urban densities and prioritising
brownfield site over greenfield site development.
- Increase the proportion of brownfield sites used for development.
- Ensure the conservation of the greenfield sites.
3. ensure the mixed use of buildings and developments, with a good balance
of jobs, housing and services giving priority to residential use in city
centres.
- Deliver a plan for brownfield site utilisation.
- Reduced proportion of new building on greenfield sites.
4. ensure appropriate conservation, renovation and use/re-use of our
urban cultural heritage.
- Reduced number of buildings of communal and cultural value demolished
per year.
- Increased proportion of disused buildings and urban spaces returned to
active use.
5. apply requirements for sustainable design and construction and promote
high quality architecture and building technologies.
- Have sustainability requirements included for construction and renovation
in development plans.
- Increased proportion of buildings with an energy consumption of less than
70 kWh/sqm (single-family-buildings) and less than 55 kWh/sqm (multi-family-buildings)
(low-energy-standard).
- Develop, adopt and implement a sustainable construction program (guidelines,
labelling, tax incentives etc.).
- Decreased amount of construction and demolition waste.
On a global scale, 'green' building is also what the UN
Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) is trying to accomplish, namely,
to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with
the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
One of my favorite definitions of 'green' building, is by William
McDonough, co-author of "Cradle to Cradle":
"The building is like a tree: Enmeshed in local energy flows, it
accrues solar income, filters water-absorbing it quickly and releasing it
slowly-and creates habitat for living things."
Architect William McDonough
and chemist
Michale Braungart have established the McDonough
Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) which has developed a certification
system called Cradle
to Cradle Certification which provide a company a means to tangibly,
credibly measure achievement in environmentally-intelligent design and helps
customers purchase and specify products that are pursuing a broader definition
of quality. This means using environmentally safe and healthy materials;
design for material reutilization, such as recycling or composting; the
use of renewable energy and energy efficiency; efficient use of water, and
maximum water quality associated with production; and instituting strategies
for social responsibility.
In William McDonough's
words the definition of sustainability and sustainable design:
"In Jeffersonian terms, we might say sustainability is an appreciation
for the legacy of your designs, an interest in the long-term health of nature
and human culture. Sustainable design puts that sensibility into
practice. Conventional approaches to sustainable design focus primarily
on outlining strategies for architectural systems that make efficient use
of energy and materials. Sustainable land planning and site design strategies
emphasize an environmentally responsive use of vegetation, water, and other
natural systems. While these strategies represent a marked improvement over
land development patterns over the past decades, they tend to rely on minimizing
human impact on the environment, striving only to be "less bad." And being
less bad, or in this case, being more efficient, is not necessarily good.
This is especially true when it comes to selecting architectural materials.
Most building materials are not designed with human health in mind. Many
commonly contain toxic substances such as formaldehyde and volatile organic
compounds, which off-gas into building interiors. In energy-efficient buildings,
which tend to be tightly sealed to reduce heating and cooling costs, toxic
chemicals accumulate in concentrations that make indoor air quality on average
three times worse than the most noxious urban air.
Thankfully, sustainable design is not about being efficient. Instead,
we encourage an affirmative design agenda, one that allows the human
impact on the environment to be positive, vital and good. This new conception
of sustainable design finds its roots in the desire to discover fit and
fitting spaces for human habitation-the desire to become native to one's
place. For us, natural communities and ecosystems serve as models of
interdependence, with each member relying on and contributing to the
well being of the whole. Informing good design, this vision affirms the
possibility of developing healthy and creatively interactive relationships
between the natural environment and human settlements."
Last, but not least, it is important to review the "One
Planet Living" concept developed and applied by BioRegional
Consulting in the BedZed
project in London, which is also the set of principles applied to the
design and planning of Ecovillage project in Kramim, Negev (Israel). This
concept is based on ten
principles that guide the design, construction and maintenance of a
building, ensuring that the building will consume no more than the energy
and resources entitled to each one of the residents (one planet instead
of two or three planets per resident). The principles include zero energy
from fossil fuels, zero carbon emissions, zero waste, use of sustainable
transportation and/or car pooling, use of sustainable and local materials
transported no more than a radius of 50 klm of the property, consumption
of local produce and food, sustainable managment and recycling of water,
regeneration of natural habitats and wildlife, protection of cultural heritage,
equity and fair trade and support of the local community, and health and
happiness for the residents.
