Cost-Effective Design for Green Schools
Oct 1, 2011 12:00 PM, By Terry Hoyle, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, and Rich Corona, PE, LEED AP
An integrated approach to green school design is the best bet for education institutions.
An integrated system design at Central Michigan University’s College of Education and Human Services, Mount Pleasant, helped the facility exceed expectations and achieve a LEED gold rating.
The notion that sustainable design always means higher costs has many schools and universities hesitant to adopt green building practices. However, the decision not to go green may end up costing more in long-term operating costs. Education institutions should take an integrated approach to sustainability, incorporating it into the building process and choosing sustainable design features that reduce construction and operating costs over the life of a building.
Long-Term Impacts
When budget and sustainability are a priority, architects should design a project with a comprehensive understanding of how the final building systems will operate and make thoughtful design decisions that will enable these systems to work together to serve multiple purposes.
Although individual sustainable design features may seem expensive on their own, looking at their cost impact on other systems can help justify the cost. The building envelope is one area that greatly affects the rest of the building, providing numerous opportunities for long-term value. Making careful design decisions here, such as installing high-performance windows and a reflective white roof, or adding insulation, will help reduce the size of mechanical and electrical systems, save money upfront and lower utility costs down the road. This money can be put back into programs or utilized to incorporate other design features.
Another design element that offers multiple ways to recoup costs is daylight harvesting. It lowers utility costs and energy usage by increasing the daylight brought into a room, thus decreasing the need for artificial lighting. Window placement and glazing, creative use of interior and exterior materials and surfaces, light shelves, skylights and multidirectional lighting push the maximum amount of natural light into a space. By focusing on indirect natural light, a design will provide the best quality of light and avoid the heat load from direct sunlight.
Although daylight harvesting may be more expensive to install because of the additional materials and technology it requires to operate, it has been reported that on average, it can save 10 to 30 percent in energy costs with even greater savings possible. Additionally, it provides the daylight that improves the learning space for students.
Premium, but not costly
Although some green features have a higher upfront cost than their non-sustainable counterparts, certain design decisions may promote sustainability at no extra cost.
For instance, building orientation, geometry and existing site features affect what kinds of green design features can be used. When money is tight, many educators’ first reaction is to reuse an existing school design. However, using an existing prototype without making adjustments to fit the site may result in a building that does not perform to its maximum potential. Small adjustments made early in the design process, such as rotating the building orientation or changing the geometry, cost nothing and will enable designers to incorporate green design strategies, such as daylight harvesting and irrigation systems. Careful evaluation of the site as well as energy modeling will help designers determine how the building should be situated to function most efficiently.
The roof is another area in which sustainable design can be incorporated at no extra cost. Installing a highly reflective white roof costs the same as a dark roof surface, but decreases heat gain and, thus, utility costs.
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