Page 292 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

270 CHAPTER 9

other components of a building. A 1996 Florida Solar Energy Center study found that
the risk of building problems increases as building complexity goes up, and green
buildings are often more complicated than others (think of green roofs and on-site
energy generation facilities).
To decrease the likelihood that problems will occur in a green building project,
developers, among other things, should:

■ Assemble a project team with green building experience;
■ Hold design charettes that give the project team the chance to discuss potential issues;
■ Give preference to products and technologies that have a satisfactory warranty and
make sure that the warranty is in the correct party’s name (unless the architect or
another party is warranting the product’s performance, warranties should normally
be in the project owner’s name);
■ Do more than look at a product’s promotional material—review technical data and
research the manufacturer;
■ Require the architect to only specify products for the use recommended by the man-
ufacturer, ensure that the general contractor installs products in accordance with the
manufacturer’s recommendations, and prohibit any party from taking an action that
could void a warranty;
■ If an architect or engineer advocates the use of a particular product or technology
in an unusual way, consider requiring them to warrant the performance of the prod-
uct, at least for a certain period of time (this is particularly true if they claim that
they have worked with the product successfully elsewhere);
■ Have a building’s design modeled prior to construction and if moisture control is a
concern, consider having wall modeling performed;
■ Have the building’s design peer-reviewed;
■ Put procedures in place that ensure thorough evaluation of change orders;
■ Monitor the construction process carefully through on-site inspections and review
of documentation from the general contractor;
■ Perform commissioning of building systems following construction; and
■ Consider using a single entity to perform design and construction functions.
Design/build arrangements can make communication easier by reducing the num-
ber of members on the project team. It can also, by making one party responsible
for a number of different functions, make it easier to assign responsibility in the
event that problems do arise.

Even if all of these steps are taken, some buildings will inevitably have problems. In
the next section, we discuss how the developer of a green building should protect itself
in that event.

REMEDIES

Consider the following claims that have arisen out of green building projects: 2
■ An architect agreed that its design for an office building would achieve enough
points for LEED Gold certification. The developer advertised that the building