Page 41 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

HIGH-PERFORMANCE BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS 19

1 Get “buy in” at the top, including not just the client but also the top management
of each important player, including all the consultants.
2 For the initial (and subsequent) design charrettes, engage a competent outside facil-
itator and give them the authority and flexibility to change the agenda as needed, to
ensure results.
3 Make sure that the design charrette agenda is the right one and get everyone to
agree to it ahead of time; schedule a multiple-day charrette, with time for social
interaction.
4 The charrette must be off-site, with no distractions; there must be time for each key
player to respond to the evolution of the design during the charrette.
5 Hold a retreat at the end of each project phase when the players’ roles and respon-
sibilities change, to review progress and integrate new people into the project
team.

Summarized in another way, we can see that creative, high-performance design
takes commitment, creativity, and focus; it also involves people who need to get to
know each other, as part of a new project team, at the outset of a project. The process
also needs to allow for serendipitous moments, spontaneous events that bring about
the “aha” realization, when everything seems to jell for all participants, and the project
design moves forward with greater ease and effectiveness.

High-Performance Building

Characteristics

Let’s get more specific about what we actually mean by the term “green building” or
“high-performance building.” A green building is one that considers and then reduces
its impact on the environment and human health. A green building uses considerably
less energy and water than a conventional building, has fewer site impacts and generally
higher levels of indoor air quality. It also accounts for some measure of the life-cycle
impact of building materials, furniture and furnishings. These benefits result from bet-
ter site development practices; design and construction choices; and the cumulative
effects of operation, maintenance, removal, and possible reuse of building materials and
systems.
In the United States and Canada, a green building is generally considered to be one
certified by the LEED green building rating system of the U.S. Green Building
Council (USGBC) or Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). More than 99 percent
of the “certified” green buildings in both countries come from this system.* For the

*Author’s analysis, based on reported certifications for new construction projects at the end of 2007. At that
time, LEED had certified about 1000 projects, Green Globes about 10, or 1% of the total.