Sustainable and green design is the use of as many natural, reusable resources as possible in the design and construction of buildings, in order to minimize that building’s impact on the physical and socioeconomic environment. Building owners, designers, constructors, and operators in the Upper Valley and throughout New England are directing their attention to sustainable and green design. Why? There are at least four good reasons:

1. To conserve consumables and resources like water, energy, and building supplies.
2. To lower energy usage and therefore lower operating costs for the building.
3. To take advantage of rebates and other financial rewards for designing, building, and operating a green building. This would include the implementation of energy systems for combined heat and power, cogeneration, and other technologies underwritten by local power companies, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other federal and state agencies.
4. To help maintain construction budgets. The building that is sustainably designed and built is one where the various systems have been carefully integrated for the good of the whole. As such, it is very likely that there will be capital cost savings during the construction of the project.

There are no limitations on the type of building that can be considered for sustainable or green design—it can be applied to a new building being built or an existing building being renovated. In many cases, it is easier to apply sustainable design technologies to new buildings because some of the “greener” products that are now on the market can be more readily applied.

However, the renovation of older facilities, such as warehouses and factory buildings, are also prime candidates for sustainable technologies because there is often a lot of opportunity to upgrade the existing building envelope and mechanical and electrical systems.

The most important factor to the success of any sustainable building project is taking into account how all of the systems and subsystems of a structure affect one another, and integrating the design accordingly. For example, lighter color on the interior walls reduces the amount of lighting required in the space; implementation of a berm around the building reduces the heating or cooling gain to the building; and orientation of the building on the site will affect the solar gain on the building envelope. Because an integrated design is so essential, any sustainable project will be better off if the owner’s team meets with architectural, structural, civil, site, environmental, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical engineers from the beginning of a project and throughout its development. In some cases, specialists may be brought in to address certain systems such as noise, solar, green roofing, and numerical simulation studies; and it is always wise to have a LEED AP design professional on the design team from the outset. The construction manager and commissioning agent should also be brought in at the initial stages of the project.

The sustainable building project seems to be quite involved and requires a lot of time and cooperation from a number of professionals from the very beginning. Does that mean it will cost more money to build?

With the proper team, the sustainable building will not take any longer, nor will it cost more money. Because there is more time spent resolving design options at the beginning of the design process, the alternatives are discussed and finalized early on. Then it becomes a matter of producing the final construction documents. With the construction manager already on board, the building project begins with accurate construction estimates, project schedules, and appropriate green or sustainable materials in place to achieve a sustainable and green building.

The most important factor when designing a sustainable building is taking into account how all of the systems and subsystems will affect one another.

There is no doubt that sustainable and green building design is the direction of the future. It is up to each of us to do our part to encourage the use of sustainable and green building systems on every building. It’s the right thing to do.

Wayne T. Bonhag, P.E, P.P., LEED AP is the Principal of Bonhag Associates, PLLC, an innovative consulting engineering firm located in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Mr. Bonhag has designed a number of varied, award-winning sustainable buildings for clients throughout the United States for residential, commercial, industrial, educational, and hospital-healthcare, both in new construction and renovation of existing facilities. Mr. Bonhag is a second generation Mechanical, Electrical, and Energy engineer having worked for such firms as Exxon Corporation, DuPont, Bristol Myers Squibb, and, locally, Vermont Gas Systems, Fujifilm, and Dartmouth College among others. He can be reached at wbonhag@bonhagassociates.com or at 603-448-5180.