Thinking Green Without Seeing Red

“Green Building.”

Lately it seems as though these two words have been getting a lot of attention. One
newspaper article touts the success of a recent “certified” Green Building; the next touts the
million-dollar budget overrun of a planned Green Building. So what, exactly, is a green
building, and how can you “think green” without seeing red?

“Green Building” is both generic and specific. In its most general use, a Green Building is one
that is environmentally-friendly; that is, it uses a lot of natural lighting, the engineered
systems are energy-efficient, the materials used for construction are recycled, etc. More
specifically, however, it refers to a building that meets the rating criteria under LEED —
Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, a program of the U.S. Green Building Council.
The LEED Rating Program evaluates buildings in six categories (see sidebar), each with specific
prerequisites as well as credits for various attributes. The lowest level for a LEED green
building is “Certified,” followed by designations of “Silver,” “Gold,” and “Platinum,” depending
upon credits earned. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, “LEED is a self-assessing
system designed for rating new and existing commercial, institutional, and high-rise residential
buildings. It evaluates environmental performance from a ‘whole building’perspective over a
building's life cycle, providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a green building.”

Buildings earn points for meeting such criteria as building re-use, brownfield or urban
redevelopment, water efficient landscaping, energy efficient building systems, recycled
materials, specification of locally-manufactured products, building siting, use of natural
lighting, and more.

It is important to note that a building cannot automatically be LEED-certified. There is an

application process and accompanying fee. However, just because a building is not LEED-
certified does not necessarily mean it is not a Green Building. In fact, many buildings meet the
minimum criteria for LEED certification; however, no application has been submitted for the
certification.

The challenge with building green is to match initial cost with life cost. There are many “green
features” within a building that add no cost and, in fact, are quite typical for any project. An
example of this is proper site orientation for a new building in order to take advantage of solar
conditions for natural lighting, heat gain, and/or heat gain minimization. Then there are those
features that add a moderate cost, but can lead to long-term cost savings. An example of this
would be operable windows and light monitors to reduce utility expenses, or highly durable
finishes, which minimize replacement costs over the life of the structure. And finally, there
are those features that come at a high initial cost, with a longer term payback. Thermal ice
storage systems with heat recovery and “smart” facades are examples of this.

One of the keys to success in building green is a holistic approach; that is, looking at the
architecture, interiors, civil, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing disciplines from a common
“green” approach. This is also referred to as “Whole Building Design.” Not only must all the

© JDB Engineering, Inc. | York, PA & Hunt Valley, MD | Engineering the Built Environment to Sustain the Natural Environment
 design disciplines coordinate regularly, but they must also buy-in to the necessary trade-offs
required to make a project stay within budget.

Obviously, the Owner’s needs and budget are the driving force behind any project. Early in
the pre-design stages of a project, the Owner and design team need to define “green building”
goals. Feasibility and life cycle cost analyses may be needed to more accurately determine the
trade-offs between initial costs and life costs. These studies do slightly increase the overall
design-phase costs; however, in some cases they can be offset by grants and— even more
importantly— can significantly reduce operations and maintenance costs during the life of a
building.

As a full-service engineering firm, JDB Engineering has always endeavored to add value to our
clients by designing cost-effective, energy efficient buildings. Fifteen years ago, we designed
one of the earliest ice storage systems of its kind in the United States at the General Public
Utilities facility in Reading, PA. We went on to design a number of additional ice storage
systems, and were featured in “The Military Engineer” for our leading-edge energy efficient
design capabilities. The concept is to produce ice at night in insulated tanks, then melt the ice
during the day to provide building cooling.

One of the most important aspects of green design — but also frequently overlooked — is the
life cycle cost implications of a project. In its most basic form, life cycle costs incorporate the
operations and maintenance expenses for a building, including energy consumption. Using
this benchmark, the life cycle cost of a building can be broken down as follows: design = 2%;
construction = 34%; and operations & maintenance = 64%. The “Total Life Cycle Cost” model
(TLC) goes a step further and incorporates the cost of the people and function of a given
space. Under this scenario, planning, design, operations, and maintenance only account for a
minimal 5% of the Total Life Cost of a given building. (Source: Carnegie-Mellon University,
Center of Building Performance and Diagnostics.)

Regardless of the benchmarks, it is important to realize that a proper design can increase
facility productivity from 5% to 30%. In addition to sound, energy-efficient design, post
construction commissioning can also play a major role in the energy efficiency of a given
building. At JDBE, we have commissioned a number of systems and buildings, and have
routinely found that the automatic temperature control sequences and setpoints were not
optimal for energy efficiency and cost savings.

© JDB Engineering, Inc. | York, PA & Hunt Valley, MD | Engineering the Built Environment to Sustain the Natural Environment
 JDB Engineering, Inc.
www.jdbengineering.com

3687 Concord Road

York, PA 17402

120 Cockeysville Road #101

Hunt Valley, MD 21030

PA: 717.757.5602
MD: 410.771.3433

© JDB Engineering, Inc. | York, PA & Hunt Valley, MD | Engineering the Built Environment to Sustain the Natural Environment