Green Construction and Sustainable Design Blogs

Green buildings and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) have become popular buzzwords in the design and construction industry.  The dramatic increase in fuel and energy prices coupled with the discussion surrounding climate change have pushed the environment into the public consciousness in a way that we have never seen before.  Even those who are not concerned with their environmental impact are now interested in energy use and how it affects their bottom line.

The trend towards “going green” in building and construction is here to stay.  With rising energy prices and wide spread climate awareness, residential and non-residential building is required to be more eco-friendly than ever.  The rise of green building and construction projects is becoming visible across the country. With this trend, the potential for subcontractors, individual building trades and suppliers to win critical bids on green projects is clear.  This is especially true for projects attempting to achieve a LEED certification.  In order to obtain work on these projects, it will be necessary for a subcontractor to show its “green” know how.  To this end, a working understanding of the LEED certification standards will better enable subcontractors, trades and suppliers to meet the needs of their individual clients and win bids on large construction and building projects.

Green buildings, energy savings, and sustainable designs continue to be the hottest topics in the real estate and building industries.  But if you own, manage or invest in existing buildings, do you sometimes wonder how to take advantage of this dramatic movement?  If so, there is good news. The US Green Building Council (USGBC) recently released its latest (January 2008) certification update for existing buildings.  For a number of years now, the council’s increasingly adopted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED® ) rating system has been available in versions that apply to New Construction (LEED-NC), Core and Shell construction (LEED-CS) and Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI).  The updated program for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) applies specifically to the operations and maintenance of those buildings.  So what does that mean?

An analysis of green roof constructability concerns was conducted by Ryan Kline, an experienced LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-accredited professional and superintendent for Turner Construction Company. Mr. Kline reported that green roofing technologies, whether intensive or extensive, continue to evolve as design professionals and builders retool their skills in response to emerging technology in improvements to insulation, water retention and drainage, and habitability. Through continuing education and active participation, project teams can minimize constructability concerns involving this dynamic roofing system, and many industry experts encourage the interactive synergy gleaned from the collaboration-in-design approach to construction.

As most people know, the latest trend in construction is “GREEN” or environmentally friendly buildings. As energy prices continue to soar and global warming attracts more attention, the GREEN construction trend is likely to escalate. The goal of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the benefits of GREEN construction and illustrate how Off-Site Construction & modular buildings complement GREEN construction. Over the last several years, various GREEN projects have been designed and constructed, therefore customers and contractors are familiar with the concept. Many users are initially interested in obtaining the US Green Building Council’s LEED Certification, however there are numerous other tangible benefits which can be obtained by using GREEN construction.