Principles of Sustainable Construction

Chapter 10

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Embodied Energy in a building

The amount of energy consumed by all the processes involved in the production of a building, including Mining Manufacturing Transportation Construction Administrative functions

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Ozone depletion

Ozone layer of atmosphere, located 10-20 miles from earth’s surface, blocks ultraviolet rays from reaching surface

Environmental pollutants react with ozone, break the ozone - oxygen cycle, and deplete the ozone layer Increase harmful effects of UV-B rays that cause

Skin cancer Eye cataracts Weakened immune system

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Global warming

“Greenhouse gases” (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor) present in the atmosphere prevents earth’s longwave radiation from leaving the surface.

Increasing levels of pollution have greatly increased greenhouse effect, raising the temperature of the earth.

Continued increases will melt polar ice caps, raise sea levels, change climate, alter ecosystems, etc.

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Buildings in US

Use 36% of total energy Use 30% of raw materials Use 12% of potable water Produce 30% of total waste Emit 30% of greenhouse gases

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Central premise of sustainability

“The needs of the world’s people are met without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their needs.”

Brundtland Report to the United Nations1987

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Fundamentals of sustainable architecture

Integrated site design Water conservation Energy conservation & atmosphere protection Resource efficiency Healthy indoor environment

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Ecolabeling of buildings

System developed for rating the sustainability of a building’s design and performance In US, LEED (Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design) is most widely adopted system, in early stages of development

Rating system based on building type - continuing to add new categories

LEED-NC New Construction LEED-EB Existing Buildings LEED-CI Commercial Interiors LEED-H Homes

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

LEED criteria and certification levels

LEED rating criteria Sustainable sites (maximum 14 points) Water efficiency (maximum 5 points) Energy and atmosphere (maximum 17 points) Materials and resources (maximum 13 points) Indoor environmental quality (maximum 15 points) Innovation and design process (maximum 5 points)

LEED certification levels Certified 26-32 Silver 33-38 Gold 39-51 Platinum 52-69

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Categories of LEED rating system

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Building Commissioning

Systematic evaluation of all active building systems to verify components have been properly installed and function interactively Often conducted by an independent

commissioning authority Conducted before building is turned over to owner

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Green Building Products - materials with a low overall environmental burden

Renewable resource Recoverable or reusable Recyclable or recycled content Biodegradability Low resource (energy & water) consumption

Manufcturing, transportation and operations

Limit impacts on consumer health Durable, good life-cycle assessment

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Closed-loop product life-cycle

Mehta, Scarborough, and Armpriest : Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems

© 2008 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Eco-labeling products

No widely adopted comprehensive rating system exists yet in US

Some rating systems address limited criteria Energy Star - home and office appliances based on

energy consumption Certified Wood - based on forest harvesting practices Green Label - low VOC emissions in carpets and rugs Green Seal - life cycle evaluation based on EPA & ISO

(International Standards Organization) standards. Not widely used.