Engineering Green Buildings

Building commissioning agents owe their clients the attention required to fine-tune their heating, air conditioning, and ventilation systems....More

In a 2010 survey of chief executive officers worldwide, 93 percent of respondents cited sustainability as critical to the future success of their companies, with 91 percent saying their companies would employ new technologies, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency, to address sustainability issues in the ensuing five years. That is the good news. The bad news is that many promising new products and technologies are having a difficult time making it onto the radar of specifiers and purchasers....More

When a team prepares to design a sustainable or high-performance building, the designers usually seek to comply with a rating system such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC’s) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) or Green Globes. Now, there is a third option available to designers: meeting the criteria spelled out in ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings....More

Whole-building design refers to a design and construction technique that incorporates an "integrated design approach" and an "integrated team process."1 Basically, all of the elements of a building’s design need to be considered, and all team members/design stakeholders need to be involved in new ways earlier in the process....More

While the USGBC has brought more awareness to the green movement, it also has prompted agencies and associations, such as the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and ASTM International, to adopt guidelines without proper scientific scrutiny. While adopting and mandating third-party guidelines, these agencies inadvertently have positioned themselves to promote, sanction, and even demand design and construction practices that result in "green" buildings that are less efficient, more costly, and less sustainable than well-thought-out non-green/"traditional" buildings....More