Green building: guideline of sustainable design

"The following cascade proceeds from the general to the specific issues:

Assessment of needs - new construction

• Is a new building necessary in order to meet the space requirements, or can use be made of existing assets?,
• Optimisation of the development programme,
• Is the development programme designed to fulfil requirements that are actually needed?,
• Does the planned allocation of space support the working processes, (optimised path connections)?,
• Consider site-related effects,
• Does the site support the ecological (impact/equilibrium/traffic flow/site reutilisation/, construction on contaminated sites) and economic requirements?,

Optimise building design

Optimise the design of the building in terms of ecology, economy, functionality and configuration.

Long-term use of buildings

Durability of the buildings.

Possibility of multiple-use/conversion if existing use is no longer needed.

Durability of construction materials and building components for extension of the life-span of the buildings and reduction of maintenance and renovation costs.

Optimisation of building component geometries for increase of utilisation value and social transparency, for wider range of uses, better chances for further utilisation and reuse and simpler maintenance/inspection.

Avoidance of composite construction materials and components which are difficult to separate for better recycling potential and systematic support for the reconditioning, further use and reuse of construction components and materials.

Low contamination levels of the construction components and materials for easier further use and reuse, simple disposal of non-usable residual waste and protection of the soil and groundwater against contamination by hazardous substances.

Controlled demolition if no possibilities for further utilisation exist for the separation of constituent components and the greatest possible level of further use and reuse.


Related Articles:

• Building Green
• Conference: Sustainable Building 2000, 2002
• GBC - Green Building Challenge
• Green building materials
• green building project: WATgreen at University of Waterloo
• References: sustainable development
• Sustainable buildings,
• Sustainable Construction
• Web sites: sustainable, green
• Whole Building Design Guide
• Healthier Building Design: Reading List
• Example design of an enclosure
• Computer programs for building envelope design
• Whole buildings approach