Push for Green Building Fits With Design-Build

By William J. Angelo

Owners and construction team members concerned about high energy consumption, high operating and maintenance costs, mold and sick building syndrome and environmental degradation on projects are starting to embrace green building programs as a smart way to address their problems. Industry sources say design-build project delivery is particularly well suited for green building because designers and constructors are involved early in the project.

The most active proponent of green building is the 11-year-old Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council, which in 1999 started its Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design program. LEED is a standardized rating system that assesses building performance and sustainability aspects of a project. For a building to be LEED certified, the construction team must first register the structure and make a commitment to LEED practices. When the project is completed, the team must submit documentary proof of its work.

USGBC staff provides independent third-party validation and rates the building on a scale of 69 points. There are four levels of LEED: certified, silver, gold and platinum, each worth 26, 33, 39 and 52 points respectively. "Not all points are applicable to every project," says Emily M. Turk, LEED architect.

To date, there are 90 LEED buildings certified globally, most located in the U.S. but others in India, Sri Lanka and Canada. More are on the way. "Over 1,000 projects have registered and more are coming on line," says Turk. Over 3,000 companies now are members of the USGBC.

According to Turk, design-build delivery lends itself to green building construction. "Our rating system promotes an integrated design process where everybody comes on board early to collaborate for high performance," says Turk. "Design-build fits neatly with that."

Another example is the Rebuild Colorado Program, which the state created seven years ago to facilitate energy improvements through what is known as energy performance contracting. On these projects, a single entity is designated to perform an energy audit and then complete the work through a lease-purchase agreement based on future cost savings. Providers are energy service companies. "The idea is to bundle design, construction and financing services," says Linda K. Smith, Rebuild Colorado senior program manager. "Doing so allows the state and school districts to complete energy saving projects without dipping into their capital budget."

About $100 million has been completed or is in process. The work primarily involves installation of lighting, controls and mechanical and electrical equipment. "Typically, we're seeing 12 to 15 years for financing, but it means better performing buildings with new equipment, upgrades, reduced maintenance, improved indoor-air quality and thermal comfort," says Smith. "That translates into better worker and student performance."
Green buildings cut across all kinds of disciplines and project decisions, says Vivian E. Loftness, head of the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, and vice chair of the American Institute of Architects' National Committee On The Environment. "From site selection, transportation, energy, water and materials, LEED tries to deal with each venue," she says. "You need a whole team in place to cover all services and that requires integrated design."

Loftness claims that design-build project delivery enhances performance-based product selection, a critical component of green buildings. "Material substitutions are the result of first- cost decisions and you can quickly lose environmental quality," says Loftness. "Design-build can ensure you actually deliver the performance qualities you want and if financing is thrown into the mix, it's easier to look at life-cycle value."

Having everyone on board helps support green decisions that may have a higher initial cost but larger benefits down the road. The key is having an informed owner make the trade-offs. This "is less likely to happen with other delivery systems," Loftness says. "For high-performance buildings, you need integrated and life-cycle decision-making that's easier to deliver through a collaborative process such as design-build," she says. "And even if a green building isn't formally design-build, it must have project team collaboration, which is the hallmark of design-build."

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