GREEN BUILDING STRATEGY

What is a Green Building?
A Green Building is a building that is “environmentally friendly.” It has been designed to reduce both the direct and indirect environmental consequences associated with its construction, occupancy, operation, maintenance and eventual decommissioning. Constructing a Green Building requires the cooperation of everyone involved in the design and building process. From site selection, through the design phase to occupancy it is important that everyone considers the best possible plan to create an “environmentally friendly” building.

A Green Building is optimized for its intended use, its local climate and its natural environment to deliver maximum efficiency and comfort with a lower overall life cycle cost than a conventional building. These are buildings not only designed with its owners and users in mind, but also with an eye to the future.

Why Build Green?
Building a green building provides environmental benefits now and into the future by reducing the need for resources and energy, while fulfilling a large niche in the path toward sustainability. The overall design utilizes fewer of the limited resources available on Earth. There are also economic benefits involved with constructing a green building. While the initial costs vary, the overall savings from conserving resources such as water and energy are quite significant. With the call for more environmentally preferable products, creating a green building is a highly marketable idea. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the average North American spends more than 90% of their time indoors. Healthy indoor environments have also been shown to increase employee productivity. A study by the Rocky Mountain Institute, cited hat productivity gains of six to sixteen percent, including decreased absenteeism and improved quality of work, have been reported from energy-efficient building design.