What Does “Green Design” Mean?
In short, ‘Green’ or ‘Sustainable’ Design takes a wholistic approach to the building design in an effort to reduce the building’s impact on our natural resources, community infrastructure, environment, energy use and occupant health. Our society in general, and the construction industry specifically, has become extremely wasteful in our use of resources, building systems and construction processes. Green Building attempts to reverse these bad habits for the benefit of not only future generations, but for the current building owners and occupants as well. To be most effective, the Green Design process should be implemented from the very beginning, and should include all of the building stake-holders: Owner, architect, engineers, contractors and end-users, when feasible. This Integrated Design approach allows the building to be designed for maximum effectiveness, efficiency and comfort. For example, the whole project team can explore various building envelope design options with varying