Re

esourrce Use
U & Build
dings
Builldings use energy, materials,
m
w
water,
and land to cre
eate the rig
ght environment for its occupa
ants.
All of
o these th
hings cost money
m
and all of th
hem have a
an environmental imp
pact.

Materia
al Use
Using
g more susttainable materials, using
g
less material,
m
an
nd using materials in the
rightt constructio
ons can imprrove the
envirronmental im
mpacts of building
consttruction, lifeetime, and end-of-life.
e

Why
y its important
Matterials havve their ow
wn environ
nmental im
mpacts from
m extractio
on and production, and they also
hug
gely affect the therma
al, visual, and
a acousttic perform
mance of th
he building. The choicce of mate
erials
and
d building products
p
a
also
drives costs on projects.
Matterials are also impo
ortant beca
ause they create
c
the physical sp
pace that your
y
building occupants
exp
perience. To
oxics or vo
olatile orga
anic compo
ounds can negativelyy affect health. On th
he other ha
and,
the right choice of mate
erials can have
h
positivve emotion
nal and hum
man health
h implicatio
ons.
Mettrics
Emb
bodied ene
ergy or em
mbodied ca
arbon can be
b used ass a measure
e of the en
nvironmenttal impact of a
matterials extrraction, pro
ocessing, manufactur
m
re, and disttribution.
How
wever, ove
er the life of
o a building and de
epending on
o the app
plication, other factorrs like therrmal
and
d structural propertie
es can be much
m
more
e importan
nt. For example, bettter thermal propertie
es of
the materials used in a building'ss envelope can impro
ove the en
nergy use (as measured by Ene
ergy
Use
e Intensity, for examp
ple).
The
e lifecycle of the material is an
nother imp
portant facctor. Is it recyclable or
o biodegradeable? Is it
mad
de from re
ecycled matterial or rapidly renew
wable materials?
Dessign Strategies
Matterial selecction is full of trade-off decisio
ons, and efffective stra
ategies vary widely based
b
on your
y
goa
als and situ
uation. Its often a go
ood strateg
gy to re-usse existing materials, source ma
aterials loccally,
and
d use recyccled/recycla
able materrials.

En
nergyy Systtems
Energ
gy systems produce,
p
usee, convert, and
a
storee energy for the building
g. In high
perfo
ormance buiildings thesee systems neeed
to bee both efficieent and effeective.

Why
y its important
Systtems for th
hermal and
d visual com
mfort all usse energy in some fo
orm.
Ene
ergy production and use is the primary drriver of gre
eenhouse gas
g emissio
ons and global warm
ming.
Ene
ergy use in buildings is also one
e of the big
ggest costss througho
out the lifettime of a building.
b
Mettrics
Bein
ng energyy effective means ch
hoosing th
he right te
echnologie
es and dessign strate
egies for your
y
building syste
ems. This can
c be me
easured byy looking at
a the kilow
watt hourss per year, per unit area
a
(Ene
ergy Use In
ntensity orr EUI).
Bein
ng energy efficient means
m
gettting the most
m
out of
o the syste
ems and technologie
t
es that youve
cho
osen to use
e. This can be measurred by the coefficientt of perform
mance of the
t equipm
ment.
Dessign Strategies
Ene
ergy system
m design should be looked at as
a a whole system. Depending
D
on your lo
ocation, ne
eeds,
and
d the availa
able source
es of energ
gy, you ma
ay choose to
t get your energy frrom on-site
e photovoltaic
and
d wind, grid
d electricity, or naturral gas. If you
y cant get
g good clean
c
energ
gy on yourr site, you may
be able
a
to purrchase offssets.
Gen
nerally, the
e architects work deffines the energy dem
mand (the
eir design places
p
requ
uirements and
con
nstraints on
n how the building
b
w
works)
and engineers
e
define how
w to supply this ene
ergy.

Water
W
Use
Wateer is used inside
i
a building for
drinkking, cleaning, and sa
anitation. Itt is
used
d outside off a building
g for
land
dscaping, an
nd wastewa
water and
runo
off needs to
o be manag
ged for a
susta
ainable buiilding site.

Why
y its important
Watter is fundamental to human
n health and
a
survivval, and allso plays a vital role in keep
ping
eco
osystems in
n balance. Shortages in fresh--water in some area
as make water
w
consservation even
e
more importa
ant.
Mettrics
Watter is meassured in te
erms of bo
oth quantitty and qua
ality. The flowrate of fixtures likke faucets and
the storage ca
apacity of tanks
t
and cisterns are
e different ways to measure
m
qu
uantity.
Watter qualityy can be measured
m
in
n a variety of ways, and
a
you ne
eed differe
ent qualitie
es for different
uses. Whether the waterr is potable
e or not diictates how
w it can be used. Indiicators like
e pH, dissolved
organics, susp
pended sollids, and tu
urbidity hellp measure
e quality.
Dessign Strategies
Bein
ng effectivve with wa
ater is all about
a
usin
ng the righ
ht kind of water for the right uses, re-using
watter as much
h as you ca
an, and eco
onomizing use with high-efficie
h
ency fixture
es as much
h as possib
ble.
Cap
pturing rain
nwater can
n be a grea
at source of
o water. Also,
A
plumb
bing system
ms that sep
parate potable
watter, greywa
ater, and blackwater can help get
g the mo
ost out of every
e
drop. You can also
a
purifyy the
watter on-site with living
g machiness or advancced septic systems.
s