How sustainable buildings give back to communities

“Green buildings,” a new class of high performance buildings, are designed to reduce demand on natural and financial resources. But little research is being done to show whether they are contributing to the development of healthy, local communities in the towns where they are being built and occupied. This is something becoming increasingly important to the triple-bottom-line banks behind green building projects.

Buildings consume 40 percent of all of the energy consumed in the United States, a figure that is driving the conversation around high performance buildings as well as U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. This is a most worthy topic to address; but we are finding that human interaction with the building drastically modifies the success of the engineered product.

People don’t act as designers planned they would (some are hot and others cold in the same room on the same day, for example). As a result, successfully implementing an energy-efficient heating and cooling system, for example, are at best spotty.

This does not mean that high performance buildings are not to be pursued. But it’s important for developers and financiers to ask themselves, Beyond energy savings, what other benefits are derived while building, working and living in green buildings? What contribution will the building make to the community, and how will it encourage a sustainable community that goes beyond what most would call ‘green’?

To begin to address this question, builders and financiers of such buildings should ask themselves from the very beginning how they can make a stronger connection to businesses in the local community. Including them in the design-build process helps encourage buy-in, which can help improve building performance.

Materials selection
By using recycled paint, recycled or recyclable materials (carpet, wood, structural materials, etc), waterless urinals and dual flush toilets, LED lighting and daylight controlled lighting, builders are conserving resources and contributing to the health of the occupants. By purchasing building materials from local manufacturers and retailers rather than international or national suppliers and retailers, builders fuel the local economy. (Studies have shown that by keeping dollars in the community, the community sees a 3 to 5 times greater benefit.)