Tips and tricks for low cost green building design

07-Mar-2010

A few ideas about easy, cost effective ways to incorporate green building design features into your project to save you time, energy, water and money.

Give love to pre-owned buildings!

By renovating older buildings instead of building new, we generally save significant quantities of money, materials and energy, thus benefiting the environment. There may also be significant savings in time and money associated with not needing as extensive a regulatory review process for approvals. Plus, older buildings have character!

Measure twice and cut once.

There is no understating the importance of good planning and considered design to save time and money. Integrated building design can often result in first-cost savings. This is certainly the case with energy efficient design, but savings can also be achieved in other areas of building design through careful integration. Including the general contractor in early discussions with the architect and engineer may identify ways to streamline the construction process and build in extra time up front in the development program to reduce surprises later on.

Provide an integrated energy design.

By carrying out integrated design, it may be possible to pay for increased efficiency measures through savings in HVAC equipment. For example, a tight well-insulated building envelope with high performance glazing and shading strategies may enable you to significantly downsize or eliminate expensive heating and cooling equipment.

Quality over quantity.  

Today’s lifestyles no longer require grand entries, formal reception rooms or even separate dining areas very often. By designing smaller, more space-efficient buildings your project will require fewer resources during construction, disturb less land during site work, and use less energy during operation. Depending on the design, the total cost is generally lower, though the cost per unit area may be higher.

Have an open mind..and floor plan.

Provide an open room layout in building to facilitate distribution of natural daylighing, reduce ducting requirements for air distribution, simplify the reconfiguration of space and reduce material use.

Thermal performance modeling of the building.

During design, model the energy performance of the design to optimize thermal performance. Trained professionals using NatHERS compliant software can help you to realize operational and up front savings for your project.

Cluster buildings.

By clustering buildings on site and preserving larger areas of open space, we reduce the costs and environmental impacts of pavement, sewer lines, utility lines, stormwater systems and other infrastructure.

Optimize orientation.

When feasible, site a building to optimize solar orientation and access prevailing breezes. With houses, locate more of the windows on the North than other orientations. It costs little, in anything, to reposition windows and modify the orientation moderately during design.

Minimize East and West facing windows.

To minimize cooling loads in houses, reduce the area of window on east and west facades. Lower sun in the early and late hours of the day penetrates deeper into the building and can increase cooling loads. By installing fewer windows to these aspects there will be less solar radiation to contend with. Depending on what your building is made of, consider external shading or planting to reduce thermal load even more. ``

Optimize glazing selection and orientation.

There is usually no additional cost in specifying different glazing for different orientations of your house. By optimizing performance characteristics of your glazing selections it is possible to achieve the desired aesthetic qualities while delivering energy efficiency and comfort. Even in East and West facing windows.

Leave floor slabs exposed.

If your house is built on a concrete slab on grade, leave it exposed rather than carpeting it. Molds, bugs and other biological pollutants will be avoided, the environmental impacts of carpeting will be avoided, and the cost of carpet can be eliminated. There are many options for attractively finishing concrete slabs, including texturing and pigmentation which are often less expensive than carpet anyway. In some climates the exposed thermal mass of a floor slab can help control internal temperatures, increasing comfort and reducing the need for heating and air conditioning.

Be smart about structural design.

Advanced framing design and pre-fabrication are strategies for reducing material use without compromising structural performance. By reducing material you are reduce resource use and probably saving time on your construction program. All while saving money.

Optimize material use by standardizing dimensions.

Anytime we reduce cut-off waste or use less material because we have optimized building dimensions we save both resources and money. In reducing waste we save money several ways: by buying less material, by reducing on-site labor, and by paying less for construction waste disposal.

Save Water!

Save water – it is the most precious resource. There is usually little, if any, additional cost associated with substituting water efficient fixtures. Look at options like waterless urinals, low flow taps and showers and reuse/recycling systems to get the most out of your water. Exceptions to low-flow fixtures are bath taps, kitchen sinks or other areas where volume requirements are the first priority.

Downsize hot water piping.

With water conserving water fixtures it also makes sense to downsize the supply pipe diameter. These will deliver hot water faster and reduce standby losses from water waiting in pipe work to be delivered.

Select sites that make use of existing infrastructure or that require minimal extension of infrastructure.

Where roadways, water, sewer and utility lines are already in place or require minimal extension; the infrastructure costs and environmental impacts of development can be significantly reduced.

Stormwater mangement.

Conventional practice with both residential and commercial developments is to carry stormwater off-site in storm sewers. A better approach is to allow that water to soak into the ground to replenish aquifers and reduce downstream flooding. Carefully planned infiltration basins and measures to reduce impermeable surfaces are generally less costly than conventional practice of storm sewer design and building large detention ponds.

Avoid landscaping cut & fill.

In site planning and grading plans, avoid or minimize cut and fill practices that either carry soil off site or bring soil onto the site. If you do have to move a lot of earth around, preserve topsoil to be replaced later. It is a productive part of the ecosystem and will help when your replanting later.

Protect existing vegetation.

It may cost a little more to protect existing trees on a site but that cost can easily be recouped through having to spend less on planting following construction. Large trees around a new house may also significantly boost the property value. Protection of shade trees can allow downsizing, reduced use or elimination of air conditioning.  

Use native plants for landscaping or consider xeriscaping. 

Indigenous landscaping supports wildlife and biodiversity far better than sod or exotic plantings. Native landscaping also does not require irrigation or chemical treatments and in most cases it costs less to source. In areas with low annual precipitation or that are prone to droughts provide xeriscaping (dry-adapted plants) and reduce the amount of plantings in favor of alternative features.

Provide natural ventilation for occupant comfort.  

By providing operable window for natural ventilation or ceiling fans to increase air flow in buildings, occupant comfort can be increased with less cooling from air conditioning than is typically required. That results in cost savings for up front equipment costs and ongoing operational expenditures.

Minimize outdoor lighting.

Eliminating or reducing outdoor lighting will both save energy and reduce light pollution while saving money. Safety concerns can be met through appropriate application of lighting and considered lighting design.

Avoid garbage disposals.

Garbage disposals require significant quantities of water for their operation and they result in high organic loading of sewage treatment plants or septic tanks. Composting is a much better option for organic wastes. When outdoor composting is not an option consider worm bins.

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