Efficient by design

Green building trend promises energy savings, happier inhabitions

By brian foley
Photos by tony richards

The Plant & Soil Science building at Michigan State University recently installed a green roof.

Green building — a general term for environmentally friendly construction and design — has come a long way since 1908, when Baldasare Forestiere began digging. Over the next 38 years, Forestiere would hand dig nearly seven acres of underground rooms and gardens. He dug to create a suitable place to grow fruit and beat the heat in central California. Today’s green architects use sustainable building design to save energy costs and meet the needs of burgeoning human populations.

Green buildings feature renewable energy and air ventilation systems, recycled building materials and water conservation systems. The benefits are exponential: each building system works collaboratively. Efficient, sustainable designs and materials reduce waste and environmental impact.

Green building design varies widely. Some buildings emphasize renewable energy with solar panels and natural lighting, and actually become energy producers as well as energy users. Other buildings incorporate natural air ventilation systems and chemical-free carpeting and paint to improve indoor air quality.

Green building is a relatively new concept because building designers have long deflected such design options as less marketable due to higher initial construction costs. But nagging concerns about urban sprawl, energy expenses and water use have created incentives for building designers to consider the long-term savings associated with energy efficient construction.

In 1995, green-building proponents organized the U.S. Green Building Council, comprised of environmental architects, engineers and innovators. They drafted the LEED system (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), allotting points to projects based on the building’s environmental efficiencies. This point system enables designers to target how ambitious their project design needs to earn bronze, silver, gold or platinum certification.

Green Money Buildings

Green buildings bridge traditional rifts between environmentalists and economists, because an efficient building can satisfy both. Efficient building design can cut energy costs in half, and provide significant savings in waste disposal and water use, according to a recent Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report.

The Crop & Soil Science department at MSU operates the building's green roof.

The report concluded that while initial costs are higher for green building design, return savings surpass initial investment by at least 20 percent. “For example, an initial upfront investment of up to $100,000 to incorporate green building features into a $5 million project would result in a savings of $1 million in today’s dollars over the life of the building,” the report stated.

However, the key to saving money is incorporating green building qualities before the project starts, said Connie Lindholm, a building design expert at the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance in Milwaukee.

“It’s a more expensive project if people do not start going green at the beginning,” she said. “The secret to green building is integrative design.”

Lindholm said prices for recycled building materials have decreased significantly. “The costs are high at first but the savings come during the building’s lifetime in operational costs.”

She said inhabitants quickly notice intangible pluses of living and working in a chemical-free, natural light atmosphere, and employers consistently report dramatically improved employee productivity. Schools report the same response from students. These trends suggest a correlation between the quality of a facility’s design and its inhabitants’ morale.

Experts attribute this to “environmental psychology,” an unconscious uplifting where people are simply happier in certain atmospheres. For corporations that build green offices, happy and productive employees equal a return on investment.

“If you are a company and you make a tiny change in your human productivity, then you’ve already paid for the building,” Lindholm said.

Green Students

The National Clearinghouse for Educational Studies in Washington, D.C. recently showed a direct link between the quality of school facilities and student performance, reporting that green building schools with excellent indoor air quality significantly increased student attendance.

One school, after moving into a green building, reported absentee percentage dropped from a standard 8.3 percent to 3.8 percent. Teachers used less sick days and reported increased job satisfaction. Natural lighting was found to contribute to improved test scores. Insulated windows blocked intrusive external noise, enabling students to focus on class material.

The U.S. Green Building Council recently granted official green certification to Goodwillie Environmental School, located in Ada, Mich., outside Grand Rapids.

“I don’t think the kids realize it is a green building in the sense that we call it a green building,” said Dave Ellis, Goodwillie principal. “But with the architectural aspects of a building that allows natural light and a modern heating system, there is no question that students learn better in such an atmosphere.”

Goodwillie students likely are unaware of design features such as rubber flooring made of recycled car tires or an outdoor deck made of recycled sawdust and milk cartons. Goodwillie school designers also paid particular attention to building design aesthetics, planting native vegetation around the school and incorporating a natural feel in building structure.

“There’s a real connection in our case with the outdoors,” Ellis said. “In part it is because of our gorgeous setting. It works well with our use of big windows and natural lighting and natural cooling.”

Ellis said there is a sense that the school and the rural surroundings outside are not separated. The result feels alive, he said, rather than dull and institutional.

A Green Future

In November the U.S. Green Building Council invited about 4,000 government agencies, corporations and nonprofit organizations to Portland, Ore. for the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo.

Meanwhile, green building is influencing landscaping and design education. For example, Michigan State University is restructuring its construction, architecture, urban planning and facilities management curriculum with a special emphasis on incorporating environmental qualities. This focus indicates that energy and water conservation, and healthy indoor air are becoming as important to building design as the design itself.

Terry Link, director of Michigan State University’s Office of Campus Sustainability, said he believes the green building trend will continue to grow. But he said there would always be room for improvement.

“We can do better,” said Link. “Whether or not we can populate the earth and all of us live like U.S. citizens, that is questionable because buildings are only one part of consumption. But I think green building makes us more mindful of other parts of our lives and the impact of the choices we make.”

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