What does it mean to “build green”?
Building Green
“Building green” is used to refer to a project that sets out to be built with the environment in mind. It refers not only to a building during the construction process, but even once the building is complete.
Building green is a commitment that must be maintained throughout a building’s “life cycle”. For a building the life cycle includes planning and prepping stages all the way through to de-construction or demolishing, if it must come to that.
In green buildings, efforts to maintain and otherwise improve the environment are included in each step of the life cycle: How will the building impact the site? How will the building continue to be energy efficient once all the lights are turned on? How is the waste managed? Are the users comfortable with the ‘alternative’ operations? Why should someone care if they’re in a green building?
When deciding to build, choosing to build green relies on the grand idea that what humans create affects what mother nature creates. The “built environment” that we develop will have an impact on the world around it. A core tenet of green building is a dedication to reduce that impact or otherwise inspire the opposite- affect the space around the building in a positive way.
It isn’t easy being green
During every stage of a building, there are hallmark considerations that are made to create and operate a green environment.
- Efficiency – The measured usage of resources like energy and water can be taken and compared to either reduce resources that are used or ensure that those resources are used with the least amount of waste.
- Waste – It’s created whether we want to or not. Pollution and waste must be controlled and disposed of to ensure the minimum impact on the environment and others who use the environment.
- Renew, Reuse, Recycle – Efforts can be made to reduce the use of something, or reduce waste being produced, but taking that extra step of finding a way to reuse something that is unavoidably created is another step toward being green. This can even include the use of renewable energy, such as solar energy to compliment or even eliminate the use of fossil fuels.
- Non-toxic, Ethical, Sustainable – When obtaining and using resources or materials from somewhere else, the building must consider not only the environmental impact of the source but the emotional and ethical impact of transplanting both on the source and the destination.
- User Friendliness – There are environments both within and around a building. Within a building, controlling the quality of life for the occupants is just as important as the big picture impact of the exterior. For example, the air quality in the space should be a high priority but the cost and waste to produce that air quality must be considered.
- Change – Buildings created now must have the ability to change. Regulations and methods of measuring a change in the environment are ever changing and buildings throughout their life cycles must be able to adapt and conform to new and better standards.
Why should tenants lease green?
Guidelines for building green are more clear than they have been in decades past. That means building for a greener future is easier for new projects which means more green spaces for tenants to choose from.
What’s important for the future is making efforts to revisit older, less efficient buildings and projects that could use a little environmental TLC. Using guidelines set in place for new building construction, teams and companies can renew older buildings with updates that will reduce operating costs in the long run.
Tenants that lease green spaces will have the comfort of knowing their operations have minimal environmental impact. The modernization of buildings and green operation standards are main appeals for up-and-coming companies wanting to establish themselves in a positive environment.
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