The Linbeck Group [ Company ]

Innovative Idea - Sustainable Design or “Green” Building

One of the latest trends in both the design and construction industries is that of sustainable design or “green “ building and it is a testament to the increasing concern we all hold for improving the state of the environment. Unfortunately, sustainable design has been misinterpreted for many years, even by industry experts, as requiring additional systems, design features and environmentally friendly materials that inevitably lead to increased costs. In fact, nothing is farther from the truth—green buildings can be as or even more cost effective than conventional buildings and infinitely more comfortable, inviting and friendly to the user and to the environment.

The concept of green is nothing new—humans by their nature have a connection with their environment and even in our built-environment we like to have that connection. Many of the principles of sustainable design are quite simple including:

Proper Site Orientation and Massing:

Take a look at any old Texas farmhouse and you can see early examples of sustainable design. Just as the early settlers knew that a sloped overhang over the porch kept the house cool, all buildings need to be sited so that they take advantage of solar loading. Proper orientation takes advantage of early morning solar loading and takes into account the heavier load of mid and late day temperatures during the summer months.

Daylighting:

Most people prefer a bright, sunny workspaces to an office without a window. The same applies to common areas within a building. Green building practices seek to invite the outdoors inside. While creating a comfortable place to work, sustainable buildings also require less artificial light and reduce energy consumption.

Bringing Air Indoors:

We’ve all heard of the problems with indoor air quality. Green buildings focus on substantially improving the quality of that air by bringing in more outside fresh air, filtering particulate matters and germs from circulating air and by reducing materials that produces particles such as carpeting or volatile organic compounds found in many building products (e.g. carpet, paint, mastics).

Other tenets of green building design include reducing the amount of construction waste and using recyclable materials, using energy management systems to control temperature and lighting in accordance with the building load (i.e. called “active measures”) and by using materials that are consistent with the local environment.

Linbeck is committed to helping our clients understand the value and impact of sustainable design. Dr. Rebecca Burleson, Craig Fredrickson, and John Hargrove are LEED Accredited Professionals by the U.S. Green Building Council. Becky, Craig, and John assist our clients with determining the extent of their “green” project goals and assist the design teams develop solutions that are consistent with those goals. Linbeck is unique in the industry because of our ability to create cost and life cycle models that can compare the costs and benefits of different systems. While some systems choices systems are easy to decide (e.g. floor coverings), other systems like specialty coated glazing in an office building or gray-water recovery systems in a laboratory building must be closely analyzed to ensure that the cost of these systems are truly worth the benefits.