Green Building Design

SITE AND BUILDING DEVELOPMENT
•For new sites, how to select a site
•For arranging a new building, how to minimize the impact on the environment
•How to best take advantage of the features of a site - Views, solar orientation, wind, run off
•Close to transportation, Public Transportation, Clients (encourage and facilitate access is good business promotion and saves energy)
•Provide on site facilities for group transport, bicycles, electric cars, car pools, etc.
•On site facilities for eating and exercise

WATER SAVINGS
•Finding materials, fixtures and processes that use less water - Low flow fixtures and waterless fixtures
•Reuse rain water and grey water from the site
•Design things that take less water to maintain
•Irrigating plants -using native plants that take less water and care, Using materials that take less water to clean (and usually less maintenance costs)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
•How to design a space that takes less artificial lighting
•Using fixtures and appliances that are more efficient and use less energy
•How to design a building that takes advantage of natural passive cooling and heating
•How to utilize energy sources on site (photo of photovoltaic system)
•How to design a building that does not need as much heating or cooling
•How to make sure building systems are installed, operated and maintained in a way that minimizes energy use

MATERIALS SELECTION
•We can select materials that have less of an impact on the world.
•Use materials that take less energy to create
•Reuse materials to save resources
•Use local materials that take less energy to bring to the site
•Use materials that do not cause environmental problems - materials that do not give off harmful chemicals - materials that don't utilize or require harmful chemicals to make
•Use renewable resources that will not deplete resources
•Set up and promote things for recycling during construction and afterwards during normal building use.
•Designing for flexible uses so the space does not need to be reconfigured saving future costs
•Consider these features for both the building of the space and the furnishing of it

INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
•Set the space up to enjoy views, natural light and natural air flow
•Make sure the construction process itself does not bring contaminants into the building
•Clear contaminants from the space prior to occupancy
•Use maintenance products that are environmentally friendly - Things that do not contaminate the space or cause pollution in their disposal or clean up.
•Health air and air flow systems
•Utilize systems that can be tailored to maximize personal control and comfort - Many of these will in turn minimize energy costs when the light/air/heat is only delivered where needed.

LEED and THIRD PARTY CERTIFICATIONS
Do you need certification?

We can help you determine the benefits and costs of certification. These systems and programs give many benefits that may bring value and even profit to a business. Having a healthy environment is good for you, your staff and clients. Being in the health industry we should be particularly sensitive to the environment we build and maintain for our clients and staff.

So we encourage you to utilize as many of the "Green Building" practices as feasible for your space. Having a knowledgeable staff we can help you make some of the hard choices and keep you on budget. It may not make sense for everyone to get their place certified, but it does make sense for every space to be built with good design, and a good environment in mind.

Our principal, Geoff Sheldon is LEED accredited and would be happy to help you with these issues and incorporate them into your plans.

LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building, home or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.