Sustainability by DesignNEW 490/CCE 491/CCE 591

3:00-6:50pm, Thursdays, 101 Carmichael Hall

Dr Joe Brown, LEED APjoebrown@bama.ua.eduOffice: 101A Carmichael

What this class is all about• Green building for commercial and residential– Theory and practice– Primarily based on the LEED framework developed by the US

Green Building Council– Alternative residential building (e.g., rammed earth,

strawbale, cob) will also be covered• Service learning through experience with local low-

income housing organizations– To ground theory– To expose you to actual building projects

• Design, materials, project planning, costs, construction– To use as the basis for our class projects– To expose you to the real-world constraints associated with:

• Providing low-cost housing for people who need it• Making green innovation cost-effective and therefore possible in

Alabama, especially for the poor

The syllabus

• Note that the course website is evolving– Readings and powerpoints will be up as we go

• Note schedule and assignments due – More on these next time– Class is only once per week; note that

participation (including attendance at lecture) is critical

Two main parts to the class

• Theory/design– LEED– Other natural building techniques/green materials

• Practical/hands-on– HERO– Arboretum

To do before the next class

• Readings• Pre-test:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=EDrHJHgL_2fpmNiLM8CjdFrQ_3d_3d

• Complete schedule:• http://www.doodle.com/wwet5ycbawrhcc9i

Before next class (cont)

• Readings: – Kim et al. (1998) – attached to email to class• Also available here:

http://www.umich.edu/~nppcpub/resources/compendia/ARCHpdfs/ARCHdesIntro.pdf

• USGBC site: review kinds of LEED and become familiar with the process

LEED• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design– Meant to encourage sustainable practices in the built

environment• Used by architects, engineers, design professionals (e.g.,

interior designers) • Most LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED AP) are architects,

so the language of LEED sounds a little foreign to engineers at first

– Developed by the US Green Building Council• Evolving over time: is becoming more recognized and used• THOUSANDS of LEED projects in the USA to date

– Few in Alabama, but interest is growing– Main barrier is cost-effectiveness in the short term (more on

barriers later)

Kinds of LEED• LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC)• LEED for Homes (in development)• LEED for core and shell (LEED-CS)• LEED for commercial interiors (LEED-CI)• LEED for existing buildings (LEED-EB)• LEED for schools, retail, healthcare• LEED for neighborhood development

• We’ll focus on LEED-NC and LEED-Homes– But philosophy and principles are very similar

LEED levels• In the LEED frameworks, projects can attain different levels

of certification by accumulating credits– LEED (basic)– LEED silver– LEED gold– LEED platinum

• LEED platinum is the greenest• This is a normative scale that encourages green innovation• LEED certification adds value to buildings, saves money and

energy, and promotes a healthy environment– By the way, buildings can be LEED certified. People get LEED

accredited (become a LEED AP) by taking an exam on the LEED process and construction principles.

LEED credits• LEED credits are categories of design innovation that contribute to a projects

points in the system– Each credit has 1 or more points; the silver-gold-platinum system has to do with

the number of points the building scores• Points are awarded for design elements in the following categories:

– Sustainable sites (14 possible points)– Water efficiency (5 possible points)– Energy and atmosphere (17 possible points)– Materials and resources (13 possible points)– Indoor environmental quality (15 possible points)– Innovation and design (5 possible points)

• This course will introduce you to these categories, the ranking system, and how buildings can be improved to meet the maximum number of points in the LEED scale to achieve sustainable design

• Since our projects have to do with sustainable housing, we’ll use LEED-Homes for that

• LEED-NC is much more widely used and will be useful for you to know as an engineer or designer

LEED for low-cost housing

• There are Habitat projects around the US that are attempting to incorporate LEED

• Barriers are: – Cost effectiveness ($100 per square foot or less)– Contractors may not be familiar with alternative

materials and methods• E.g., 2x6 interior walls to allow for more insulation

– Organizational or professional inertia: easy to continue, hard to change

And now, the slick presentation by the US GBC about LEED-NC

• Supplement what you see here with the readings

• There’s a great deal about LEED and green design on the internet– Lots of excitement about this right now– Plenty of information out there, so start

familiarizing yourself with the basics

Test

PERCEPTION

OVERVIEW RATIONALE USGBC LEED CONCLUSION

Test

REALITY

OVERVIEW RATIONALE USGBC LEED CONCLUSION

Test

USGBC

STEWARDthis market

transformation

OFFERexpertise

EDUCATEthe industry and

the public

FORUMfor industry

dialog

PROVIDEtools

Test

Test

What is the LEED System?

OVERVIEW RATIONALE USGBC LEED CONCLUSION

LEADERSHIP inENERGY andENVIRONMENTALDESIGN

A leading-edge system for certifyingDESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, & OPERATIONSof the greenest buildings in the world

Scores are tallied for different aspects of efficiency and design in appropriate categories.

For instance, LEED assesses in detail:

1. Site Planning2. Water Management3. Energy Management4. Material Use5. Indoor Environmental Air Quality6. Innovation & Design Process

Test

Levels of LEED Ratings

OVERVIEW RATIONALE USGBC LEED CONCLUSION

Green Buildings worldwide are certified with a voluntary,consensus-based rating system. USGBC has four levels of LEED.

Test

What is green building?Design and construction practices that meet specified standards, resolving much of the negative impact of buildings on their occupants and on the environment.

SitePlanning

IndoorEnvironmentalQualityWater

Management

MaterialUse

Energy

Sustainable Sites

Efficient Water Use

Energy & Atmosphere

Materials & Resources

IEQ

Innovation

Test

immediate&measurable

Increased productivity_5

Test

OVERVIEW RATIONALE USGBC LEED CONCLUSION

Additional Construction Costs for LEED-certified buildings

Conventional Building Cost (100%)Average for offices and schools, based on 40 buildings Additional Cost

PLATINUM (2 buildings)

GOLD (9 buildings)

SILVER (21 buildings)

CERTIFIED (8 buildings)

6.8%

2.2%

1.9%

.66%