EcoLodgical - Green Hotel Environmental Management and Design Manual

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN THEME
Introduction

Welcome to EcoLodgical! No it is not spelled wrong. This project seeks to broaden the acceptance and practice of green building techniques and environmental strategies (Eco) in the hospitality sector (Lodging). However, the ideas, strategies, and techniques can be applied to all sorts of construction and design.

The initiative of this project was to determine and attempt to remove the barriers that prevent communities, businesses, and people from employing environmentally sensitive design to their human environments. The focus and challenge of EcoLodgical is to break down communication barriers that exist between those who know (a growing few) and those that want to know (growing even faster). One solutions appears to include using the internet to serve (what technology is intended for – to serve us all including our biosphere) or provide content in the most economical (financially, chronologically) and flexible manner as to reach the greatest audience.

Thus EcoLodgical is an education tool, an environmental design manual, and a node for environmental progress in the hospitality industry. Please take the time to immerse yourself in the various means of finding and digesting the environmental design information that interests you.

Teachers and all forms of educators may be interested in first selecting the “teacher/educator” mode which filters out the details of each topic and rather provides a broad overview of the key issues. Specific teacher resources will also be included at the end of each topic.

Urban planners and government regulators new to environmental design may wish to choose the “planner” option to view the key topics in more detail but to bypass the detailed sub topics of each environmental design element.

Finally, architects, engineers, building operators and people seeking a complete overview and details of each topic should select the 'designer/operator' option, which will provide extensive information on each topic and sub-topic. Additional information including references, web resource URLs, and comments will be provided after each sub-topic (if selected).

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Environmental Design - Green Buildings

Environmental building design is design that engages environmental considerations.

It is design that includes environmental criteria in the decision making or filtering steps that lead to the completion of a design.

Adjectivally, the term environmental is often thought of as an incidental issue. A public concern and an addition to marketing that adds cost but distinguishes one product over another. However, the term environmental modifies design so radically that it is almost a discipline on to its own.

But if environmental design includes consideration of the environment than what is design exclusive of environmental criteria? Perhaps labeled as conventional, western, or modern design, non-environmental design surrounds many of us. It is our local archetype that has manifested out of an optimization of the current western societal framework. Costs and therefore deterrents are applicable only in a narrow sense. Only in relatively undeveloped regions of the world or in select cases where alternative designs have survived the cost cutting accounting to be built do we see really different examples of building design. In many instances, these local architectural forms lend great insight into the environmentally optimal design patterns for a region.

To achieve environmental design it is imperative that the entire design method, approach, and discipline be overhauled. Every component, every guideline, every mark of the pen must consider the implications of the adjective environmental. As such, environmental design must be thought of as an overall approach or philosophy. It's limits go well beyond the practice of design to every aspect of society and to the personal life of every designer. It becomes a way of life, a way of thinking, a means to interact with the world.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF BUILDINGS
In 1995, a succinct summary delineating the impacts of buildings on the environment in no more than a paragraph was published by Roodman and Lenssen. This simple yet provocative piece has become a keystone for green building documentation. It is cited in no fewer than 177 online documents (Google).

The Worldwatch Institute authors note simply that buildings consume two fifths of world energy production (Roodman 1995). This does not include the energy that is required to harvest, manufacture, and transport all the materials used to construct and maintain buildings. One sixth of all water pumped out of natural flows are consumed in buildings. One quarter of all virgin wood harvested ends up in buildings. And this does not account for all the interior wood furniture.

FIGURE 1: Summary of building environmental impacts.

Considering the flooding urban sprawl, strain on energy supply, decline in water resources, declining availability of large dimensional lumber, and the increasing incidence of sick building syndrome, changes to the largest consumer of natural resources are necessarily imminent. Combined buildings are the accumulation of what is wrong with society today. They also represent the answer to radically reducing our impact on the planet.

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN SOLUTIONS
Fear not, technical solutions exist for the majority of environmental impacts caused by buildings. And they have been applied in a small proportion of buildings around the world. The biggest problem is that the decision-makers are not privy to the solutions or are lack significant detail to be able to employ the environmentally efficient strategies.

Commercial buildings comprise a smaller proportion of the building infrastructure. However, improvements in their environmental performance provide awareness for occupants, which can have a multiplier effect. Fortunately as of late, economic forces have encouraged many companies to add environmental awareness to their marketing agenda. Some pioneering companies are addressing issues throughout their organizations while others are altering their corporate headquarters in an attempt to improve their image.

In Bangkok, a new office building uses 80% less energy than a comparable building, while the ING bank headquarters in Amsterdam uses ten percent the energy of its predecessor. The Canadian outdoor company Mountain Equipment Coop recently built a new retail outlet that used 50% recycled material by weight. And the Vancouver Island Technology Park diverted 90% of construction from the landfill. The impacts of these projects illustrate the solutions exist in all regions of the planet.

Under economic pressure by European travel agencies, the Kandalama Hotel in Sri Lanka was designed in 1994 to exceed existing environmental standards. Aitken Spence (owners) realized the changing values that were forming market forces and recruited Geofrey Bawa (architect) to design one of the most environmentally sensitive hotels in Asia. Others followed including the Orchid Hotel in Mumbai, India and the Aurum Lodge in Alberta.

See green hotel case studies...

Kandalama Hotel - Sri Lanka - - 59K
The Orchid - India - - 95K
Aurum Lodge - Canada - - 59K

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Making Your Hotel Green

What is a Green Building?
CITY OF SAN JOSE

A "green" building can be defined as any building that is sited, designed, constructed, operated, and maintained for the health and well-being of the occupants, while minimizing impact on the environment.

"Green building" refers to those practices that promote occupant health and comfort while minimizing negative impacts on the environment. There are different degrees of "greenness." Often, it is necessary to strike a balance between many different, sometimes conflicting, green options based on the particular conditions of a given project. For example, proper strategy for a sustainable retrofit project may differ from that of new construction design.

Green building practices offer an opportunity to create environmentally sound and resource-efficient buildings by using an integrated approach to design. Green buildings promote resource conservation by including design features which encourage energy efficiency, use of renewable energy, and encourage water conservation. By promoting resource conservation, green building design creates healthy and comfortable environments, reduces operation and maintenance costs, considers environmental impacts of building construction and retrofit, and concentrates on waste minimization. In the interim, green building design addresses such issues as historical preservation and access to public transportation and other community infrastructure systems. The entire life cycle of the building and its components is considered, as well as the building's economic and environmental impact and performance.

UNIVERSITY OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA

A Berkeley “green” building can be defined as a building that is sited, designed, constructed, and operated to maximize present and future beneficial impacts on the environment.

ENERGYBUILDER.COM

Green Buildings are really resource efficient buildings and are very energy efficient, utilize construction materials wisely -- including recycled, renewable, and reused resources to the maximum extent practical -- are designed, constructed and commissioned to ensure they are healthy for their occupants, are typically more comfortable and easier to live with due to lower operating and owning costs, and are good for the planet. The overall environmental impact of new building and community development and the choices made when we either reuse or demolish existing structures is very important.

ENVIRONMENTAL BUILDING NEWS

Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment--both during construction and through their operation. 'Green building' is a loosely defined collection of land-use, building design, and construction strategies that reduces these environmental impacts. Benefits of building green include:

reduced energy consumption,

protection of ecosystems, and

occupant health.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
The Key Problems

As a global community, we face a number of challenges

1. Population Growth

Based on data from the United Nations, global population is estimated to reach 9.4 billion by 2050. The problem is that if

FIGURE 1: World population growth projections.

Source: United Nations (U.N.) Population Division, World Population Prospects 1950-2050 (The 1996 Revision), on diskette (U.N., New York, 1996).

2. Resouce Consumption

Based on the global ecological footprint calculations, the average global citizen requires 2.1 hectares of the planet to provide for the resources consumed. Unfortunately, this means we are already consuming at a rate that is unsustainable. If we factor in the population growth and a provision to allow everyone to consume at a rate equal to the current global average, then it will be impossible to sustain the global population and our society as it is currently organized.

FIGURE 2: Ecological footprints of various nations.

Source:

3. Waste Production

At present our global system is built on the premise of cradle-to-grave resource consumption. Thus the raw resources used to produce the ‘consumable’ products that surround us are used only once and then deposited in our environment. To return society to a …

FIGURE 3: Waste per capita of various nations.

Source:

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Population Growth

Although little can be done in hotel design and operation to influence world population growth, instead developers, operators, and designers can focus on the two main environmental impacts that result from human population growth - resource consumption and the resulting waste.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Resource Consumption

Nearly every activity consumes resources and thus opportunities to conserve abound.

Energy is the most common form of resource conservation. Energy conserving practices are well documented, can be employed quickly, and are easily quantified as to the benefits and payback periods.

Other forms of resource conservation that are not as common include water conservation, and reducing material consumption in the design and operation of the hotel. Indirect forms of resource conservation include converting fleet vehicles to alternative fuel sources, recycling, and providing education opportunities to clients, contractors, and guests.

Resource conserving strategies and practices ultimately conserve our environment and often produce economic benefits as well.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
The Concept of Waste

If we are to restore balance to our world, the concept of waste must be eliminated. What is considered to be “waste” in one system must be considered as “food” in another. And, in the process, the concept of “scarcity” must be converted to “abundance.” Natural, healthy systems have no problem creating food from waste. Our bodies do it all the time. Organisms stay healthy by consuming only what they need to maintain balance and by casting out only what is needed for nourishment by other systems.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Biomimicry

Nature as Model - Biomimicry is a new science that studies nature's models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a leaf.

Nature as Mentor - Biomimicry uses an ecological standard to judge the "rightness" of our innovations. After 3.8 billion years of evolution, nature has learned: What works. What is appropriate. What lasts.

Nature as Measure - Biomimicry is a new way of viewing and valuing nature. It introduces an era based not on what we can extract from the natural world, but on what we can learn from it.

Excerpt from http://www.biomimicry.org

Two examples in nature that can directly applied to environmental design:

Every organic being that is eventually recycled into the web of life

Cradle-to-cradle green design-products that will be designed up front to be used, reused, and then fully recycled. Centerpiece of a no-waste economy.

Marshes

Constructed wetlands-sewage treatment facilities that clean a community's water while doubling as a wildlife refuge.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Environmental Design - Background

Before any analysis or action is taken to implement environmental design strategies or products, it is important to understand the life-cycle of a building and the costs (economic and environmental) attributed to each phase.

FIGURE 7.1: Life-Cycle Analysis of a Building (30 year period).

Source: Public Technology Inc., US Green Building Council. Sustainable Building Technical Manual, 1996.

Notice the relative costs over the thirty years of the building (construction 2%, operation and maintenance 6%, human resources 92%). Ironically, the human resources component is the most difficult to quantify and thus has been the most neglected when seeking organizational and operational efficiencies. From these numbers, it is clear that any initiative that improves the environment and efficiency of occupants will provide the highest return.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Design

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Retrofit/Renovation

The majority of hotel owners are in a situation where a new building is not a possibility

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Operation

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN THEME
First Things First

Before one begins the process of designing a building or examining a building for environmental assets and liabilities, it is prudent to learn and understand some or all of the key themes and strategies. But before you begin to think like an environmental designer you need to realize that there are problems and issues related to nearly every aspect of modern (Western – Developed world) building design and construction. So what then does environmental design really mean…

Environmental Design is design that engages environmental considerations. It is design that includes environmental criteria in the decision making or filtering steps that lead to the completion of a design. Adjectivally, the term environmental is often thought of as an incidental issue. A public concern and an addition to marketing that adds cost but distinguishes one product over another. However, the term environmental modifies design so radically that it is almost a discipline on to its own.

To achieve environmental design it is imperative that the entire design method, approach, and discipline be overhauled. Every component, every guideline, every mark of the pen must consider the implications of the adjective environmental. As such, environmental design must be thought of as an overall approach or philosophy. It\'s limits go well beyond the practice of design to every aspect of society and to the personal life of every designer. It becomes a way of life, a way of thinking, a means to interact with the world.

But if environmental design includes consideration of the environment than what is design exclusive of environmental criteria? Perhaps labelled as conventional, western, or modern design, non-environmental design surrounds many of us. It is our local archetype that has manifested out of an optimization of the current western societal framework. Costs and therefore deterrents are applicable only in a narrow sense. Only in relatively undeveloped regions of the world or in select cases where alternative designs have survived the cost cutting accounting to be built do we see really different examples of building design.

At this point, you sit back and think for a moment about the steps you will follow (or have already followed) when planning your building or examining a building. First of all, have you already chosen a site or has a piece of land already been zoned for your project? If you are already planning on a single piece of land then you need to rethink your methodology. Restricting yourself to a piece of land before you understand environmental design may introduce impacts that outweigh the rest of the project. Always, try to have 2 or more sites to choose from.

Even before you begin looking for a piece of land to build, the first step of the project should include a meeting of your newly formed design team.Together the environmental goals of the project can be set and prioritized.

The overall approach to any building project or environmental assessment should include the goal of minimizing the ecological footprint of any development (new construction and existing). Calculating and understanding the project’s or building’s ecological footprint serves to educate all participants and provide a benchmark in order to make decisions upon.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Planning

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ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Setting Goals

Develop a Vision Statement that includes the environmental principles of the project and the integrated design approach.

Establish environmental design goals that the vision statement requires.

Determine environmental criteria that will assist the design to meet the environmental goals.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Setting Goals

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
2 or More Sites to Choose From

Ideally, two or more sites should be examined for all criteria including environmental such that the specific project occupies an optimum space.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Theory

Once the interdisciplinary design team has been assembled, the potential sites must be scrutinized to find the optimal combination of site features that will allow for the least impact to the site and surroundings. The first step is to collect all the relevant data from each proposed site. Then a comparison can be made between sites and the optimal location will present itself. There are a variety of criteria that should be considered when deciding on a site to develop. Avoid selecting inappropriate sites and always attempt to minimize any environmental impacts that may occur from the development.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Minimizing Ecological Footprint

Minimize the overall ecological footprint of the project. An ecological footprint is the combined environmental impacts of the project including the construction, operation, and decommissioning.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Team Building

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ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Forming a Design Team

Assemble an interdisciplinary design team before the site selection process. That includes client, users if possible, engineers, landscapers, maintenance staff, etc.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN THEME
Sustainable Siting

Perhaps the greatest impact to the environment when constructing a building occurs upon selection of the site. Thus, the site selection process or site-planning phase may well be the most important step to reduce or minimize the overall environmental damage of the project. With this in mind, proper care should be taken to screen potential sites before purchasing and optimize the selection process for all criteria including environmental. This can be achieved by including the entire interdisciplinary design team during the site selection process.

Before a site is chosen, a number of sites should be assessed to see whether they are compatible with the entire design teams goals and priorities (see First Things First). The assessment should include collecting and assessing a variety of data. Questions need to be addressed such as will the building have access to sunlight (one of the greatest resources of a site)? Is the site virgin natural landscape which should be left intact in preference for developing a brownfield or urban site? Does the location have sufficient access to efficient public transportation? Can the land be effectively developed while controlling excess sediment and erosion? Will the development increase stormwater runoff? Can the existing soil be maintained intact or transplanted? Is the existing native vegetation (if any) a barrier to the project or can it be maintained? Can any further landscape development reduce the effect of heat islands? Does the site allow for minimum impervious surfaces to be employed while giving preference to pervious surfaces? Do outdoor public amenities exist?

Many other questions need to be asked before selecting a site and thus taking the time to form a complete design team complete with goals and priorities is paramount when attempting to reduce environmental impacts related to siting of a building.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Selecting an Appropriate Site

Many other questions need to be asked before selecting a site and thus taking the time to form a complete design team complete with goals and priorities is paramount when attempting to reduce environmental impacts related to siting of a building.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Collecting Data

The purpose of collecting data is to identify the assets and liabilities of each site. Each of the potential sites should be assessed in a similar manner.

Analyze all the proposed sites to determine site characteristics that will influence building design. Study how the solar altitude, microclimate, and the topography will affect design (i.e. solar orientation, wind loading, floor elevations, potential for passive solar/daylighting)

Consider the climatic zone of the site. Each climatic zone (cold, temperate, hot-dry, hot-humid) have design strategies to maximize the overall design (i.e. passive solar vs. shading, deciduous vs. coniferous vegetation).

Perform soil and groundwater testing. Avoid building on soils that are contaminated with agricultural or industrial chemical residues. Establishing a clean source of groundwater is important if the building is to be self-sufficient. contaminated groundwater is a likely indication of nearby pollution that may impact the building operation environmentally and economically.

Test soil suitability for bearing strength, additional slope structures, and infiltration. Test the native soil for bearing, compaction, and infiltration capacity. Assess the added cost of importing fill to the site to make the soil suitable for development.

Evaluate ecosystems for existence of wetlands and endangered species. Assess and identify any areas that may not suit building development or require special preservation or restoration.

Examine existing vegetation to inventory significant plant populations. Denote vegetation that may require special protection during construction. Identify species and populations such that the landscape designers can later mitigate any damaged areas with original elements.

Avoid stream channels, flood plains, wetlands, steep erodible slopes, and mature vegetation. Evaluate whether the interstitial spaces (i.e. between channels, plains, etc.) are enough for the proposed building footprint.

Map all natural hazard potentials. Disclude the site if there is evidence of significant past disturbances (i.e. 100-year flood level, slopes prone to slides, wind-damage, avalanche potential). Consider discluding a site if it is within the 100-year flood level (many jurisdictions provide or require the purchase of flood insurance for development within the 500-year flood level).

Diagram existing pedestrian and vehicular movement and parking to identify patterns. Determine whether existing patterns fit the proposed design plan. Take advantage of existing patterns to reduce environmental impacts and infrastructure costs, or consider a different site.

Review the potential of utilizing existing local transportation resources. Attempt to share existing infrastructure (i.e. parking facilities, shuttle buses) with neighbouring developments to reduce overall costs and increase site efficiency.

Analyse site for existing utility and transportation infrastructure and capacity. Identify any need for increased capacity or upgrades and denote costs (the need for additional infrastructure may discount the site). Examine potential of integration with building design.

Identify any construction restraints and requirements that the site necessitates.

Observe the architectural style of the area. Attempt to incorporate some elements of the community’s architectural fabric in the design of the building and landscape (i.e. materials, colours). Utilize historically compatible building types where appropriate.

Review site’s cultural resources for possible restoration. Discuss the potential of including existing resources within the building plan and design.

Analyze the site’s existing air quality. Determine the existing outdoor air quality and analyze how the proposed building will affect air quality. Observe diurnal wind patterns and investigate potential ventilation intake/outtake orientations and locations.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Assessing Data

For each potential site, analyze impacts of proposed design. Identify alternative designs for each site that mitigate site-specific impacts. Utilize the entire design team to compare the assets and liabilities of each site. Evaluate and decide based on all criteria, environmental, social, and economic.

Identify topographic and hydrological impacts of proposed design. Note potential mitigation measures required or alter design.

Develop general area takeoff and overall building footprint compatibility with site. Design the building for the site not vice versa.

Identify alternative site design concepts to minimise resource costs and disruption. Remain flexible to take advantage of all site assets in the design.

Review financial implications of site development, building, and projected maintenance costs. Accounting for all life-cycle costs leads to an optimum choice.

Develop matrix of use and site compatibility index. Use the matrix to easily identify key assets and liabilities of each site.

Evaluate project site selection, based on all criteria.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Site Selection Criteria

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ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Avoidance of Virgin or Signifcant Land

It is important to avoid choosing and developing virgin landscapes.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Brownfield/Urban Redevelopment

Whether to increase density or to avoid further damaging suburban land, it is a prudent choice to select land that has already had some form of human development upon it before tearing up new land on the city’s boundaries.

During the selection process, give preference to urban redevelopment sites and sites that have previously been damaged environmentally.

Select urban sites that can be redeveloped. Avoid developing virgin land whenever possible to minimize habitat destruction.

Select brownfield or previously damaged sites when mitigation strategies can be implemented. Investigate potential economic incentives and land improvement funding available. Avoid sites that have unrepairable damage.

Encourage in-fill and mixed-use development. Development that mixes residential and commercial space decreases the need for automobiles.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Access to Sunlight

Locate your building on a site where ample sunlight is available. Know where the sun rises and sets in order to capitalize on natural lighting.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Access to Alternative/Public Transportation

Site the building to take into account available public transportation for employees and guests. Provide preferred parking stalls for car pool vehicles and easy security for bicycles with change and shower facilities in house. By locating nearby public transportation corridors, the designer may be able to decrease the size of parking lot, and provide a better working environment for the staff. Proximity to recreational corridors or pathways is also an asset for guest recreation.

Support reduction of vehicle miles travelled. Support and design for ease of use of mass-transit. Reduce parking capacity and encourage car-pooling. Consider facilities (i.e. showers, locks) for cyclists.

Identify and use existing vehicular transportation networks to minimize the need for new infrastructure. Reduces construction, operating, and maintenance costs. Reduces non-permeable surfaces.

Consider increased use of telecommuting strategies. Evaluate the cost benefits including deferred building components, operations, and maintenance.

Consolidate service, pedestrian, and automobile paths. Thereby reducing paving area, centralizing runoff, and increasing efficiency of paths.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Reducing Site Disturbance

Once the optimum site has been selected, it is essential to minimize development impacts to the site. Restrict disturbance to within 10 metres away from the building. Site selection should have identified likely disturbances to each site as one criterion for the selection process. Any areas that are damaged should be restored after construction. Minimising the footprint of a building will often minimise the environmental impacts on the site related to construction. This should be a target for the design team.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Sediment and Erosion Control

Controlling erosion and excess sediment produced during the construction phase is paramount to avoiding environmental impacts on water and air quality especially in areas where heavy precipitation is common.

Develop a plan for both the construction phase and the operation phase. Utilise silt fencing and sediment traps, phase construction accordingly, stabilise steep slopes, and maintain vegetated ground cover.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Stormwater Management

It is important to limit the disruption of natural water flows through the site. This can be achieved by minimizing storm water runoff, increasing infiltration, and reducing the amount of contaminants available to pollute the water.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Soil and Soil Ammendments

Although not readily apparent, the soil plays an integral role in mitigating surface impacts of storm water runoff and the success of vegetation growth and overall landscaping of the site. Protecting the soil is of most concern during the design and construction phase.

Involve a qualified site-design professional on the design team early in the project.

Obtain and evaluate the chemical and physical characteristics of the site soils.

Amend the soil in planting areas according to professional advice.

Protect the soil during construction. Design for minimal grading. Stockpile and replace existing topsoil when grading is necessary. Avoid the movement of heavy equipment over site. Remediate compacted soil after construction with tillage, etc.

Carefully design for grading and excavation. Design building with site in mind. Utilize sites strengths (i.e. existing topography, drainage patterns) and direct storm water to planted areas to minimize irrigation requirements.

Follow all applicable erosion-control regulations. Avoid exposed soil and mitigate potential erosion where necessary and/or required by regulations.

Stabilize soil during and after construction. Utilize natural means where possible (i.e. straw bail dams, jute netting, hydroseeding).

Use bioengineering. Interwoven woody cuttings reduce the potential for full-scale washouts more common to rigid constructions.

Instruct operators to schedule soil-maintenance tasks. To be done in conjunction with other planting and site vegetation maintenance activities.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Vegetation and Grounds Management

The existing vegetation should be viewed as an asset to enhance design (i.e. natural shading, reduced landscape construction and maintenance) and reduce impacts of the development (i.e. reduced storm water runoff, increased infiltration).

Include an ecologically knowledgeable landscape architect as an integral member of the design team.

Preserve existing vegetation, especially native plants. Avoid fencing off property where possible to make landscape available to community increasing project integration. Decrease paving and monoculture lawns. Avoid replacing mature trees with young seedlings.

Protect existing plants during construction. Delineate the “drip line” around trees and demark or fence off areas to avoid damage. Contain heavy equipment and stockpiling areas to predefined areas.

Design new plantings as diverse communities of species well adapted to the site. Plant native or drought resistant species (less maintenance and water) of varying ages. Select vegetation that attracts wildlife. Avoid invasive species and monocultures (same species, same age).

Follow XeriscapeTM (water-efficient) principles.

Use vegetation to mitigate climate and existing site conditions. Deciduous trees provide shade during summer and allow solar gains in winter. Coniferous trees provide year round shade and wind protection (wind protection = a distance 3 times tree height). Noise mitigation requires at least a 75-metre band of vegetation.

Hire a reputable nursery or contractor to supply and install plants. This avoids contractors that pilfer plants and plant out of season.

Employ integrated pest management (IPM) against insects and weeds. Avoid synthetic chemical pest management (pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, biocides, etc.) in preference for natural, organic products.

Use mulching, alternative mowing, and composting to maintain vegetation health. Avoid synthetic fertilizers. Recommend manual-push mowers rather than powered types. Design for and utilize on site composting for landscape nutrient supplementation.

Compile and follow a seasonal maintenance task list. Regular maintenance is key to maintaining a healthy landscape.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Site's Impact on Design

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ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Landscape Design to Reduce Heat Islands

A heat island is the result of a surface that has absorbed solar radiation during daylight hours which then gives off heat to the adjacent air. Since dense materials like concrete and asphalt have greater thermal capacities than adjacent (natural vegetation cover) surfaces, they can store more energy from the sun and thus become hotter surfaces. This heat is distributed to the air whenever the surface slab is hotter than the air. This occurs after mid-morning until potentially late into the evening.

Conventional buildings typically have dark coloured roofs and are surrounded by asphalt or roadways. The black (low albedo or good heat absorption capabilities) thermal mass coupled with the clearing of trees on a site (reducing shade) increases ambient temperatures. This can be beneficial for cold-climate buildings (passive solar gains) but costly in temperate to hot climates (increased cooling loads).

Harness solar energy, airflow patterns, natural water sources, and the insulating quality of landforms for building temperature control. Waterbodies are effective heat sinks (in cold-climates as winter heat sources, in hot-climates as air-cooling). Landforms can also play an important role consider colour and orientation.

Use existing vegetation to moderate weather conditions and provide protection for native wildlife. Green space not only forms necessary connections between parcels of habitat, but also provides shade and the cooling aspects of transpiration.

Design access roads, landscaping, and ancillary structures to channel wind toward main buildings for cooling, or away from them to reduce heat loss.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Pervious and Impervious Surfaces

Anytime impervious surfaces are applied to a site, impacts occur due to reduced vegetation, increased runoff, and increased solar heating. Careful attention must be paid to the alteration of the site water cycle that impervious paving may cause.

Limit paving areas to the strict minimum for their intended purpose. Specify smaller parking stalls (i.e. 2.8m by 5.6m rather than 3m by 6m).

Carefully distinguish between light-vehicular, heavy-vehicular, and pedestrian paving. Avoid using vehicular paving when not needed. Specify alternative materials (permeable interlocking block, gravel: See Water-permeable or Porous Paving below) rather than non-renewable, energy intensive pavement.

Use water-permeable or “porous” paving. By removing the fine elements of concrete and asphalt, water is allowed to percolate into the soil. Select porous paving or alternatives (i.e. block-lattices, masonry pavers on sand).

Design paving to serve dual purposes. For example, placing a parking lot over top of a gravel reservoir designed to handle stormwater volumes.

Design to minimize runoff. Curbs focus runoff, increasing water volume and erosion capability. Designing for infiltration of runoff as close to source (subterranean gutters, curbless roadways) is most cost effective.

For light-duty roads and paths, stabilize without pavement. Crushed stone or brick (potentially reclaimed from old building) can be an effective porous road surface.

Locate pavement where solar heat gain is desirable. Be aware that dark coloured pavement absorbs and slowly releases large amounts of solar heat (beneficial in cold climates) and light coloured pavement can introduce severe glare on sunny days (but minimizes solar heating).

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Outdoor Public Amenities

Allowing occupants to utilize the outdoor space surrounding the building enhances the connection between architecture and nature.

A well-designed building takes advantage of the site to provide shaded areas for eating and relaxation, connecting corridors between buildings, and easy, safe access routes to adjacent buildings on neighbouring properties. All executed in a manner as to retain the original vegetation communities intact.

Modify microclimates to maximize human comfort in the use of outdoor public amenities such as plazas, sitting areas, and rest areas. Regulate sun and wind and be conscious of seasonal variation in weather.

Consider sustainable site materials for public amenities. Specify recycled or reclaimed materials with low life cycle costs. Consider surface albedo to avoid severe glare.

Specify sustainable site construction methods. Avoid unnecessary site disruption.

Develop sequential staging to minimize site disruption.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN THEME
Design Elements

Due to the current market framework, it is often the case that the client that is commissioning a building is often a different client than the one who will operate the building and pay the lifetime of maintenance and operating costs. This dichotomy tends to prevent the designer from specifying increased environmental capital costs in the construction phase because builders often don’t take into account the long-term costs of operating the building.

Green building techniques will lower energy costs, lower water costs, lower site-clearing costs, lower landfill dumping fees, lower overall material costs, and create fewer employee health problems resulting from poor indoor air quality (Sustainable Building Technical Manual 1996). Environmental design features incorporated early during the design stage will easily pay for themselves in years of operational savings and increased return on investment. It is critical that the entire design team be involved and co-ordinate a holistic, whole building design approach that not only takes full advantage of environmental strategies and technologies, but maximizes the synergies between them as well.

Just as a complete design team was formed prior to selecting a site for the project, the entire design team is required again in order to develop a comprehensive design strategy and program. This pre-design stage includes a complete lifecycle analysis of the project. From this collaboration a design approach is established which then allows the designers to optimize each component of the project as well as optimizing all the components in unison.

Some of the key ingredients the design team needs to consider climatic considerations which will help to determine the building form and orientation. Maximizing thermal efficiency based on the form and orientation.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Pre Design

Prior to developing a concept design for the building, it is critical to form an appropriate design team and define the direction that the team will take in order to develop a comprehensive design strategy and program. This pre-design stage includes a complete lifecycle analysis of the project. From this collaboration a design approach is established which then allows the designers to optimize each component of the project as well as optimizing all the components in unison.

Some of the key ingredients the design team needs to consider climatic considerations which will help to determine the building form and orientation. Maximizing thermal efficiency based on the form and orientation.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Pre Design/Life Cycle Analysis

Green building techniques will lower energy costs, lower water costs, lower site-clearing costs, lower landfill dumping fees, lower overall material costs, and create fewer employee health problems resulting from poor indoor air quality (Sustainable Building Technical Manual 1996). Environmental design features incorporated early during the design stage will easily pay for themselves in years of operational savings and increased return on investment. It is critical that the entire design team be involved and co-ordinate a holistic, whole building design approach that not only takes full advantage of environmental strategies and technologies, but maximizes the synergies between them as well.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Design

A variety of environmental factors must be considered during the design process. Proper consideration by the entire interdisciplinary team during the design stage will ensure efficient, effective architecture that achieves the goals set out during the pre-design stage.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
The Design Method

Implementing environmental elements during the design stage reduces inefficient operating costs, and future renovation costs. Their successful integration is necessary to achieve optimum building performance. One method of handling the diversity of environmental design considerations during the building design phase is suggested below.

Utilize the following method for each design step as a guide:

Confirm environmental design criteria

Develop environmental solutions

Evaluate environmental solutions

Check cost

Integrate systems

Refine environmental solutions

Check cost

Document environmental materials and systems

Verify material test data (i.e. MSDS)

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Optimizing Each Element

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ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Optimizing All Elements

design element content

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Climatic Considerations

The design team must consider the regional and microclimate of the site. Data collected during the site-planning phase can enhance the overall building design and optimize energy performance.

Assess the local climate (using typical meteorological-year data) to determine appropriate envelope materials and building designs. In hot-dry climates utilize materials with high thermal mass. In hot-humid climates utilize materials with low thermal mass. In cold climates utilize air tight, well-insulated walls.

Assess the site’s solar geometry. Identify benefits and/or costs of solar gains via roofs, walls, and windows depending on climate.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Building Grounds

The building must be integrated with, rather than stand apart from the surrounding site. It is the design team’s task to integrate the existing landscape and any exterior design elements with the building’s architecture.

Co-ordinate building strategy with landscaping decisions. Involve the landscaping designers and maintenance staff to develop strategies for year round design optimization.

Reduce paved areas to lessen heat buildup around the building that will add to the load on the building envelope. Except in cases of cold climates where exterior heat islands may be useful; decrease paved area and avoid selecting dark colours. Be aware of glare potential on light coloured surfaces.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Human Scale Neighborhoods

Minimize automobile dependence.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Infrastructure

Consideration of existing infrastructure is important to minimize the costs of a poorly sited building. The design team can take advantage of existing infrastructure to minimize new development and additional equipment capacity.

Design the site plan to minimize road length, building footprint, and the actual ground area required for intended improvements. This will reduce length of utility connections.

Use gravity sewer systems wherever possible. Avoid the continuous power consumption that sewer pumps require.

Reuse chemical waste tanks and lines. Inspect existing infrastructure and avoid disposing of adequate tanks and lines.

Aggregate utility corridors when feasible. Utilize existing roads, trenches, and clearings before new land is cleared for trenching.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Building Form and Orientation

A building's form must be determined by its relationship to the sun and local climate, as much as aesthetics. Building's can take many forms from a hemisphere (igloo) to forms that maximize surface area like the Habitat building in Montreal, Canada built for the World Expo 1967. Each form has advantages and disadvantages.

Building Form
The igloo is a 'natural' example of the optimum building form. And it is no surprise that the elevated sleeping pad is located directly in the middle of the igloo either. Body heat from the occupants radiates outward and is reflected back toward the centre of the igloo and its occupants due to the hemispherical shape. This maximizes the radiant heat retention for the occupants.

As well, the shape of the igloo minimizes exterior surface area and thus minimizes heat loss from the shell of the igloo. As it turns out the igloo is the perfect design choice by the Inuit of the Arctic. This is also an example of biomimicry, or ethnomimicry.

Figure: Heating energy is dependent upon building form (surface area).

Source: http://www.oikos.com/esb/36/ bldgform.html

The most efficient building form with respect to minimizing heat loss is a hemisphere. The surface area of the sphere is equal to 2 X pi X radius squared. The surface area of the floor is pi X radius squared. This equates to a ratio of 2 (surface area to floor area).

A perfect square's ratio is 4 which means that an igloo has half the surface area of a square (where diameter equals wall length). This relationship continues as the shape becomes more complicated with an ever increasing amount of surface area. Note however, that in a temperate climate where heat loss is not an issue, surface area is not as significant with the exception of the added costs and resources that may be required to construct a building with a complicated form and surface area.

Building Orientation
It is always important to orient a building to optimize the effects of solar radiation. In equatorial and temperate locales, the designer must consider the impacts that direct sun may have on occupants and temperatures in the indoor environment. Large openings that allow for sunrise and sunset light to penetrate the building should be avoided (western and eastern facades) or sun control measures should be considered.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Thermal Efficiency

Insulating a building in any climate can have merits. In cold climates, insulation serves to reduce heating costs. In temperate and hot climates, insulation can serve to reduce air conditioning costs. It is often difficult and expensive to retrofit insulation in an existing building so identifying proper amounts at the design stage is critical. Minimization of thermal bridging is also important to achieve maximum benefits of insulation.

Determine the building function and amount of equipment that will be used. Determine internal heat gains from occupants and equipment when considering HVAC requirements.

In general, build walls, roofs, and floors of adequate thermal resistance to provide human comfort and energy efficiency. Pay particular attention to roofs as they can receive excessive solar gains in summer and losses in winter.

Consider the reflectivity of the building envelope. In hot climates and when cooling loads are present, review the colour selection and reflectivity of exterior walls.

Prevent moisture buildup within the envelope. Place vapour barrier on the warm side of the wall when space heating is used to prevent moisture from condensing in the wall cavity.

Weatherstrip all doors and place sealing gaskets and latches on all operable windows. Prevent air leakage to avoid convective losses and unwanted infiltration.

Specify construction materials and details that reduce heat transfer. Prevent heat transfer through walls to maintain indoor environments.

Incorporate solar controls on the building exterior to reduce heat gain. Consider solar gains and losses through the roof and all exterior walls.

Consider the use of earth berms to reduce heat transmission and radiant heat loads on the building envelope. Sod roofs and buried exterior walls provide thermal mass that absorbs and controls solar gains.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Passive Solar

DEFINITION

Passive solar design refers to the use of the sun's energy for the heating and cooling of living spaces. In this approach, the building itself or some element of it takes advantage of natural energy characteristics in materials and air created by exposure to the sun. Passive systems are simple, have few moving parts, and require minimal maintenance and require no mechanical systems.

Operable windows, thermal mass, and thermal chimneys are common elements found in passive design. Operable windows are simply windows that can be opened. Thermal mass refers to materials such as masonry and water that can store heat energy for extended time. Thermal mass will prevent rapid temperature fluctuations. Thermal chimneys create or reinforce the effect hot air rising to induce air movement for cooling purposes.
Wing walls are vertical exterior wall partitions placed perpendicular to adjoining windows to enhance ventilation through windows.

CONSIDERATIONS

Passive design is practiced throughout the world and has been shown to produce buildings with low energy costs, reduced maintenance, and superior comfort. Most of the literature pertaining to passive solar technology addresses heating concerns. This information is useful and relevant in our area; however, cooling issues, which are equally important in Austin, are less well documented. Key aspects of passive design include appropriate solar orientation, the use of thermal mass, and appropriate ventilation and window placement.

Consideration of high humidity is a key issue in Austin. For example, a basic passive cooling strategy is to permit cooler night air to ventilate a house and cool down the thermal mass (this can be brick, stone, or concrete walls or floors, or large water containers) inside the house. The thermal mass will absorb heat during the day; however, excessive humidity will reduce the cooling effect from the cooler thermal mass. Interior design elements of a home in our region also play a strong role in the effectiveness of passive cooling. For example, carpets, drapes, and fabric-covered furniture will absorb moisture from humid air, forcing the air conditioner to work harder to remove humidity.

As a design approach, passive solar design can take many forms. It can be integrated to greater or lesser degrees in a building. Key considerations regarding passive design are determined by the characteristics of the building site. The most effective designs are based on specific understanding of a building site's wind patterns, terrain, vegetation, solar exposure and other factors often requiring professional architectural services. However, a basic understanding of these issues can have a significant effect on the energy performance of a building.

Solar energy in the form of heat and light is freely available in nearly all locations. In regions where heating is required, design for efficient use of passive solar energy. A building must first be oriented properly (See Sustainable Siting) to take maximum advantage of the solar energy. In locales that require air conditioning, the designer should attempt to minimize solar heat infiltration while allowing for maximum daylighting.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Passive Solar

DEFINITION

Operable windows, thermal mass, and thermal chimneys are common elements found in passive design. Operable windows are simply windows that can be opened. Thermal mass refers to materials such as masonry and water that can store heat energy for extended time. Thermal mass will prevent rapid temperature fluctuations. Thermal chimneys create or reinforce the effect hot air rising to induce air movement for cooling purposes.

Wing walls are vertical exterior wall partitions placed perpendicular to adjoining windows to enhance ventilation through windows.

CONSIDERATIONS

Every opportunity should be made to harness “free” solar energy in the form of heat and light. The design team must also pay particular attention to reducing excessive solar heating especially in temperate and hot climates.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Passive Solar Heating

Passive Solar Heating:

Analyse building thermal-load patterns. Seek strategies that deliver daylight and solar heat when the building requires it.

Integrate passive solar heating with daylight design. They are complimentary strategies.

Design the building’s floor plan to optimize passive solar heating. Windows should face within 15 degrees of true south to take advantage of solar heating.

Identify appropriate locations for exposure to beam sunlight. Shorter occupancy spaces (i.e. atrium, lobby, hallways) can tolerate direct solar gains. Offices where people work for extended periods of time must include measures to disperse direct sunlight and heat (i.e. clerestory windows, light shelves, window tinting).

Avoid glare from low sun angles. Be aware of early morning and late afternoon solar exposure that penetrates deeper into interior spaces. Orient work stations north-south so that partition walls block low angled light.

Locate thermal mass so that it will be illuminated by low winter sun angles. In cold climates, take advantage of low solar angles when space heating is required in winter. The thermal mass will remain in the shade during summer.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Passive Solar Cooling

In temperate and hot climates, solar heat infiltrating the building has typically been the most costly thing to mitigate (i.e. air conditioning). However, effective passive solar cooling design can eliminate much of this conventional operating cost with proper building design. Passive solar cooling can reduce or even eliminate the need for air conditioning in homes. At its simplest, passive cooling includes overhangs for south-facing windows, few windows on the west, shade trees, thermal mass and cross ventilation. Some of the same strategies that help to heat a home in the winter also cool it in the summer. Consider preventing excess solar heat from entering the building envelope. A variety of design strategies are listed below.

Design buildings for cooling load avoidance. Utilize appropriate window glazing and shading devices to avoid the need for mechanical cooling.

Choose one or more shading strategies including: fixed shading devices as part of building design (porches, overhangs, extrusions), trees or other vegetation that provide seasonal shading, awnings that can be extended or removed, operable shades or blinds. In general, limit east and west glazings to avoid low solar angle exposure.

Consider other cooling strategies including: taking advantage of natural ventilation, radiative cooling in regions that have significant differences in day and night temperatures, ground coupled cooling, and dehumidification in humid climates.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Thermal Mass

Storing passive solar energy can assist both heating and cooling strategies. Storing heat allows for “free” heating to be used during night hours. Absorbing heat and storing it also decreases the maximum interior temperatures during the hottest times of the day thereby reducing daytime temperature peaks.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Overhangs

Passive solar design works by utilizing overhangs to shade a house during the heat of the summer and allow sunlight to penetrate the interior of the house during the winter.

PASSIVE SOLAR COOLING OVERHANG DIMENSIONS
[DOWNLOAD IMAGE]

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Active Solar

If you want to heat your building with solar energy, you will need to decide whether you want an "active" or a "passive" system. A passive system does not use a mechanical device to distribute solar heat from a collector. An example of a passive system for space heating is a sunspace or solar greenhouse on the south side of the house. Although passive systems are simpler, they may be impractical for a variety of reasons (for example, building an effective sunspace may not be possible).

Active solar heating systems consist of collectors that collect and absorb solar radiation and electric fans or pumps to transfer and distribute the solar heat in a fluid (liquid or air) from the collectors. They may have a storage system to provide heat when the sun is not shining. An active system may be more flexible than a passive system in terms of siting and installation.

Choosing the appropriate solar energy system depends on factors such as the site, design, and heating needs of your house. Local covenants may restrict your options; for example homeowner associations may not allow you to install solar collectors on certain parts of your house. If you are unsure about what type of solar energy system to install, contact a solar energy specialist or engineer. No matter what system you choose, you should learn about it before making a purchase.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Active Solar

Active systems employ mechanical and/or electrical means of harnessing and/or using passive solar energy. Harnessing this “free” energy is one of the simplest ways to improve environmental performance and reduce costs of building operation.

Determine if the climate and building usage is appropriate for an active solar collection system. This will depend on solar availability and planned uses of system.

Determine the financial feasibility of an active solar system. Consider the life
cycle costs of both solar and mechanical systems for up-front costs, operation costs, and maintenance.

Determine an appropriate location for solar collectors on or near the building. Locate solar collectors to maximize exposure to sun (dependent upon latitude and seasonal usage). Avoid shading from vegetation or adjacent structures. Select locations that reduce chances of vandalism. Be conscious of and mediate potential low angle glare from solar panels.

Design collectors to withstand all weather conditions. Specify glass that can withstand severe precipitation (i.e. hail, ice storms) and supporting structures that can withstand extreme wind events.

Design and locate collectors to maintain a clean surface and facilitate cleaning. Design structures that can hold maintenance staff.

Minimize heat losses from the system. Locate collectors near storage systems. Insulate distribution lines.

Avoid over-designing to ensure the longevity of an active solar system. Minimize controls and maintenance. Maximize accessibility to collectors, distribution lines, and storage systems.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Active Solar Heating

When building heating is required, temperate and hot climates may be able to rely 100% on solar heating. A variety of design strategies are indicated below.

Select an active solar heating system and collection medium appropriate for the building’s heating and cooling systems. Water based systems tend to work well with water-based HVAC systems and similarly air-based systems work best with central air distribution HVAC systems.

Evaluate water-based collectors. They offer the ability to transfer heat to water-storage, water-distribution, and air-distribution systems.

Consider air-based systems. Air-based systems avoid the problems of leaks, are more easily maintained, but require more area to collect as much heat.

Consider ventilation air preheat systems. In cold climates, simple solar preheating devices are inexpensive, cost efficient, and easy to maintain.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Active Solar Hot Water

In temperate and hot climates, hot water production can utilize ‘free’ solar energy in whole or in part. At minimum a supplemental solar hot water heating system should be mandatory and a part of every new building design.

Select the type of solar hot water heater according to climate, cost, and operations and maintenance preferences. Potential systems include: thermosyphon systems which rely on natural convection to distribute collected heat to storage tank located above collectors; direct-circulation systems that pump water or other medium to collectors when solar heating is available; drain-down systems utilize heat exchangers to heat potable water and can be drained during cold seasons when freezing would cause damage; indirect water-heating systems which use a freeze-protected liquid as the collecting medium and heat exchangers; air systems that use air as the storage medium and heat exchangers.

Consider a pre-heat or full-temperature system. Utilizing active solar heating to preheat water can be cost-effective installing a gas or electric backup to boost temperatures of the water to required levels.

For systems using water as a collection medium, consider the following issues: prevent stagnation that can lead to excessive heating and expansion of medium resulting in damage to the system; provide freeze protection when climate warrants it; avoid calcification and corrosion which can reduce flow rates and overall efficiency of system (creates insulating layer); plan for leaks in the system; select a heat-storage system for maximum efficiency and flexibility; minimize pumps and pump energy required.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Daylighting

Today, there is increasing evidence that daylight is essential for the health, well being and productivity of individuals. Although productivity is often difficult to quantify, clinical disorders, such as daylight deprivation and seasonal affective disorder (commonly called SAD), are directly linked to a person's lack of light. By carefully designing window specifications for either commercial or residential buildings, architects can contribute to the increased productivity and psychological health of building occupants.
Through the years, daylight has played an invaluable role in the lighting of buildings. Until the industrial revolution, workers generally spent a large amount of time outdoors or within close proximity to daylight. Not until this century, when electric lights became commonplace, has daylighting been neglected in most buildings.

Allowing natural, “free” daylight to permeate the building’s façade and light interior spaces should be the main goal of the designer. Natural daylight provides a less expensive means of lighting and a healthier (See Indoor Environmental Quality: Lighting Quality) indoor environment. It is important however to consider the impacts of morning and evening low angle sun and daytime heating on the indoor environment.

A recent study indicates that typical people are exposed total daylight levels of greater than 2000 lux for only 90 minutes each day (Savides, 1986). Light exposure is important to the inner time keeping of humans. Through evolution, man has adapted to rhythms such as body temperature to provide him with explicit knowledge of external time (Terman, et al, 1987). The loss of this connection can contribute to fatigue, insomnia, and SAD. Another study of Russian and Czechoslovakian literature indicated that occupants of windowless factories were more subject to headaches, faintness and sickness that similar occupants of factories with windows (Plant, 1970). However, with today's advanced window technology, combined with efficient electric lighting, we can now design cost-effective, healthy buildings, that help to minimize these effects.

Daylight, a full-spectrum light source, most closely matches the visual response that, through evolution, humans have come to compare with all other light. Daylight provides continually changing values, brightness and contrasts to the workplace, allowing the human eye to constantly adjust. This adjustment reduces eye fatigue. The human eye is capable of adjusting to high levels of luminance without producing discomfort (AIA, 1993). However, reflections and brightness need to be controlled in relation to the task or design program.

Windows provide outside contact

Windows are the best means of providing points of contact with the outside environment. Short- and long-range views allow the eye to change focus, provide a connection to the natural world, and to assist in knowing time and weather and provide orientation. The lack of a physical connection is a major source of occupant dissatisfaction in offices. Studies show that many European countries now require that workers be within 27 feet of a window. Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries go a step further. They require that windows also be operable (Loftness, et al, 1993). To offset the problem of overburdening a mechanical system with open windows, automatic sensors are placed within the air diffusers in individual offices. These sense, through a change in air pressure, that a windows is open. They then cut off heat flow to the room so that the heating system is not working against an open window.

With reduced reports of headaches, fatigue and seasonal disorders through increased daylight, worker productivity is bound to increase. Wages and salaries can represent about 95 percent of all costs of a typical office building (Ternoey, et al, 1984). Reduced sickness and absenteeism and the increased performance would, therefore, more than offset any increased initial costs or life cycle costs (Robbins, 1986) associated with providing more workers visual access to windows.

The NMB Bank Headquarters in The Netherlands was designed by architect Ton Alberts of Alberts and Van Huut, to heavily rely on daylight. No desk may be more than 23 feet from a window. Window louvers bounce daylight deep into the space. Inside the bank, wood windows are used to bring the light from one area into another, thereby giving all workers access to daylight, even when they are located in interior spaces.

The bank has seen a significant drop in employee absenteeism, which is attributed to the attractive work environment (Browning, 1992). Each tower of NMB Bank is punctuated by a glass-roofed atrium, allowing a generous use of plants to help bring the outside in.

Enhanced spatial relationships, both within a building and to the outside, are also positive attributes of daylighting. Natural light is the best source of good color rendering, making people and colors look more realistic than they do in electric light. Daylight adds a dimension of expansiveness to spaces and can help to define shapes and tasks. This attribute of daylight is especially critical to the elderly. As the baby boomers age, sensory loss will become a significant issue which designers must face. Common eye problems associated with aging include slower adaptation to light level changes, increased difficulty with glare and requirements for higher illumination levels (Noell, 1992). Contrast between window openings and surrounding wall surfaces can be reduced by proper shading of windows, splaying of window jambs, and proper interior lighting.

When designing a daylit building, the designer must carefully consider the visual tasks to be performed in a space and the needs of the occupants. Glazing choices and the location and design of window openings then are carefully chosen and detailed. With the variety of window types available, fading, overheating and glare can be controlled. Generally, using glass that is clear in color and has a high visible transmittance is desirable. Shading coefficients will vary according to climate, orientation and the thermal needs of the building.

Way Station, a mental health facility in Frederick, Md., uses daylighting to create an aesthetically pleasing and healing environment that helps promote wellness of people with serious mental illness. "Members" and staff of the center comment that the building makes them feel great and that they love that daylight is available in almost every room. The Way Station uses light monitors, tracking daylight collectors, and finely-tuned window strategies to enhance the positive qualities of light. The daylighting techniques are part of an overall strategy that results in an energy cost savings of more than two thirds.

As architects and designers explore the inclusion of daylighting into their designs, the availability of high performance windows with diversity of characteristics to accommodate specific functions will be necessary. Jacob Liberman, Ph.D., states, "When we speak about health, balance and physiological regulation, we are referring to the function of the body's major health keepers; the nervous system and the endocrine system. These major control centers of the body are directly stimulated and regulated by light, to an extent far beyond what modern science, until recently, has been willing to accept."

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Design Process

Today, there is increasing evidence that daylight is essential for the health, well being and productivity of individuals. Although productivity is often difficult to quantify, clinical disorders, such as daylight deprivation and seasonal affective disorder (commonly called SAD), are directly linked to a person's lack of light. By carefully designing window specifications for either commercial or residential buildings, architects can contribute to the increased productivity and psychological health of building occupants.

Through the years, daylight has played an invaluable role in the lighting of buildings. Until the industrial revolution, workers generally spent a large amount of time outdoors or within close proximity to daylight. Not until this century, when electric lights became commonplace, has daylighting been neglected in most buildings.

Windows provide outside contact

The design team must balance the need for natural, daylight to penetrate the building envelope, while avoiding excess heating and unwanted morning and evening glare on eastern and western facades.

Establish daylighting performance objectives and requirements. These objectives may be developed during the pre-design phase (See 2.1 – Design Elements: Pre-Design).

Analyze lighting performance needs using the following procedure: perform a solar path analysis for the site, perform preliminary aperture-optimization strategies, determine and design illumination levels for various programs, perform a preliminary life-cycle cost-benefit analysis.

Establish basic daylighting parameters as part of the building design including: location, shape, and orientation of building; fenestration design objectives; energy-efficient artificial illumination systems; preliminary life cycle cost analysis of daylighting systems; optimal effective aperture of toplighting strategies; lighting control strategies.

Specify details for lighting systems and products including: glazing materials, finishes, shading systems location and type, control systems.

Confirm that specified practices and materials are installed properly. Monitor direct sunlight penetration. Observe that seals are correctly installed on all skylights. Observe final calibration of lighting control systems.

Ensure that the building’s daylighting features are in place and maintained for optimum performance including: control systems, maintenance schedule, and education for occupants.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Daylighting Systems

Complete integration of daylighting strategies and systems with other lighting and energy systems is necessary to optimize energy efficiency and permit overall success with daylighting design.

Avoid direct sunlight and excessive brightness on critical task areas. Evenly distribute light in interior spaces (i.e. light shelves, clerestories). Avoid placing workstations and computer screens adjacent to windows.

Bring the daylight in at a high location. Utilize windows, skylights, roof monitors, and clerestories. Consider colour and reflectance of ceiling members.

Diffuse and distribute the daylight using: vegetation, draperies, screens, translucent shades, light shelves, and light scattering glazing.

Bounce the daylight off of surrounding surfaces. Use light shelves, louvers, blinds, and vertical baffles to distribute light.

Integrate daylight with other building systems and strategies.

Maintain a favourable room aspect ratio – the ratio of ceiling height and window height to depth of room from window. See diagram to the right.

Establish an appropriate building footprint. The ideal building depth is limited by the dimension required for a double-loaded corridor (exterior window/wall-daylit room-corridor-daylit room-exterior window/wall).

Specify the appropriate room reflectivity (surface reflectance).

Rely on clerestories in addition to windows. They allow light to penetrate deeper into a space.

Consider a sawtooth roof form to provide uniform illumination over a larger area.

Design roof monitors and skylights to provide lighting of interior spaces. Skylights are efficient in that they usually have 180-degree view of the sky.

Use sloped or curved ceiling planes. Ceiling planes are the simplest mechanism of distributing light in a space.

Optimize overhangs based on window height and latitude (solar altitude). Consider seasonal benefits and drawbacks with permanent overhangs.

Incorporate light shelves with windows where appropriate.

Employ baffles, louvers, and reflectors as appropriate in conjunction with any of the above-mentioned strategies for solar control.

Integrate daylighting with luminous ceiling systems.

Consider solar shade and awning systems.

Consider optical venetian blind systems.

Consider advanced light-shelf systems. See figure to the right.

Consider advanced systems such as active concentrating heliostats, passive collimating systems, and high-performance optical skylights.

Consider light-pipe distribution. They are effective at delivering natural daylight to interior spaces without exterior partition walls.

Consider spectrally selective glazings, which filter certain wavelengths (i.e. infrared) allowing for maximum daylighting while maintaining energy efficiency.

Consider switchable glazings for differing seasonal conditions. Photochromic glass darkens at predetermined intensity levels. Thermochromic glass becomes translucent at predetermined temperatures. Electrochromic glass darkens when an electrical current is applied. Liquid crystals become clear when an electrical current is applied and are translucent otherwise.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Fenestration and Form

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ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Artificial Lighting

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ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Artificial Lighting

Any building that will be occupied outside of the daylight hours will require some form of artificial lighting. Efficient design of ancillary lighting combined with effective daylighting integration will ensure maximum energy efficiency.

Integrate lighting controls to respond to available daylight.

Ensure good control-system design.

Integrate daylight controls with other control strategies.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Design Process

Once the daylighting design is complete, then artificial or supplemental lighting is needed for proper light distribution and off daylight hours.

Include the entire design team in the design of building massing, orientation, and envelope to achieve greater daylighting contribution.

Incorporate the most energy-efficient technology for lamps, fixtures, and control equipment.

Consider all lighting functions including the ambient system, task lights, emergency and 24-hour lighting, exterior lights, exit lights, and public-area lights.

Use sophisticated design analysis, including computer simulation, for system design.

Consider using the guidelines of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES). IES guidelines are helpful for designing outdoor lighting.

Design for specific visual tasks. Consider lower ambient lighting levels in exchange for more directed task lighting.

Consider task-lighting systems that reduce general overhead light levels.

Match the quality of light to the visual task lighting requirement. Quality is more important than quantity.

Improve lighting design and energy efficiency by performing several key activities in the early phases of architectural space planning. Co-ordinate the lighting plan with furniture layout. Design for daylighting to be available in hallways, lounges, and areas of recreation. Group occupants with similar tasks together so that unoccupied areas require less lighting.

Improve room-cavity optics. Utilize high reflectance walls and light colours to enhance daylighting.

Provide effective lighting control. Use sensors that automatically adjust artificial lighting with daylighting available. Allow occupants to adjust lighting levels.

Consider improved task lighting products.

Convert existing light fixtures. In many cases, more efficient fixtures are available.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Light Fixtures

New technology is available and many contemporary lighting fixtures are being replaced by energy efficient fluorescent fixtures and task lighting. Consider retrofitting exit signs to energy efficient fixtures.

Specify efficient lamps for the intended use. Select T8 fluorescent lamps; compact fluorescent lamps; lower wattage, high colour rendering lamps; compact reflector HID lamps; halogen lamps with infrared reflectors; sulphur bulbs.

Use efficient exit signs. Exit signs are available that use little or no electricity.

Use electronic ballasts. They are 10-20% more efficient than most magnetic-coil ballasts.

Improve optical control. Improve task lighting while lowering overall ambient lighting levels.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
Light Pollution

A source of pollution that is rarely identified or discussed until recently, but present in nearly all hotel developments, light often impacts the access to the night sky and alters nocturnal environments (i.e. turtles reproduction habitat on beaches). Although outdoor lighting may be important for personal and property security, exterior lighting should be controlled to minimize environmental impacts. Exterior lights should be turned off or set on timers to turn off when not needed, especially after guests go to bed. Lights that are required all night should be placed in a manner to achieve their task without excess lighting.

Direct lighting to specific tasks. Avoid lighting areas that do not require it.

Use lighting controls to turn lights off when not needed. Timers and motion sensors increase energy efficiency.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ISSUE
Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)

As one of the largest building operating costs in tropical locales, the HVAC system must be designed with optimum performance in mind. As noted above (See Design Elements: Passive Solar), one of the largest factors determining HVAC systems is the heat transfer performance of the building envelope. A building designed to efficiently deal with outdoor temperatures and passive solar energy may be able to greatly reduce these HVAC operating costs. It is important to reiterate that proper design eliminates a lifetime of high operating expenses and/or costly renovations cost at a future date.

ENVIROMENTAL DESIGN ELEMENT
PreDesign

As one of the largest building operating costs in tropical locales, the HVAC sy