Simplicity equals sustainability

7. June 2011 by gleearch.

In today’s hyped up LEED market, we see a plethora of products being pushed as being green products.  Everything including the kitchen sink is now “green” or are the very least able to get you LEED credits.

I was recently part of a team for a design build public bid project as the LEED administration consultant.  Needless to say it was a lot of work on the part of the entire team putting the proposal together and I came away very impressed by the builder who was the prime/ lead on the proposal.

However as part of the process we had to dissect the bridging documents put together by the original design team and in order to ensure a proposal that was buildable and met the project costs estimate it required doing extensive work including value engineering and design revisions.  There were some code issues not properly addressed in the original design and some LEED credits proposed which did not make sense.

The one thing many people forget in their pursuit of LEED, is that sustainability isn’t about glossing up the building and stuffing it full of building systems.  That does not make it green.  Ensuring the design is both climate and site responsive does wonders for a building.  Not tarting it up with large HVAC systems claiming super high efficiency because it’s needed to counteract all that glass facing west.

Nor should it be about placing green roofs on a building in one little corner so that you can claim a point for storm water treatment when the site itself can do that at grade.  While green roofs can be a good thing, as with many other “green” building systems, prudence should be used when judging when to use them.  Adding costs to a project with very little gain but making a big show of it when selling the idea to the client doesn’t help the environment.  Anyone remember Al Gore’s house?

Slapping on lots of bells and whistles on a building that was not designed to work with the environment isn’t going to be green no matter how many LEED points you score.  Fortunately the team I was on, understood this and the innovative ideas developed made for a better design.  Convincing the client already sold on the original idea would be a different story.  Sometimes doing the right thing can be an uphill battle.

Sustainability is about simplicity. Doing less in many ways means doing more for the environment.

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