LEED & Building Green
PAC believes in the future - we believe in ensuring our children and all future generations live in a world where sustainable construction and green buildings are the norm, not the exception. To achieve this goal, PAC incorporates sustainable, green building practices whenever the opportunity arises. We believe LEED buildings are integral to a better world and we continually upgrade our skills and knowledge to bring LEED principals to our clients. If you want to be on the forefront of construction technology, ask us about LEED buildings.
Sustainable Construction
Sustainable construction is defined as "the creation and responsible management of a healthy built environment based on resource efficient and ecological principles". Sustainably designed buildings aim to lessen their impact on our environment through energy and resource efficiency. It includes the following principles:
* minimising non-renewable resource consumption
* enhancing the natural environment
* eliminating or minimising the use of toxins
Sustainable building involves considering the entire life cycle of buildings, taking environmental quality, functional quality and future values into account.
A Green Approach
A green approach to the built environment involves a holistic approach to the design of buildings. All the resources that go into a building, be they materials, fuels or the contribution of the users need to be considered if a sustainable architecture is to be produced. Producing green buildings involves resolving many conflicting issues and requirements. Each design decision has environmental implications. Measures for green buildings can be divided into four areas:
- reducing energy in use
- minimising external pollution and environmental damage
- reducing embodied energy and resource depletion
- minimising internal pollution and damage to health
What Makes a Building Green?
A "green" building places a high priority on health, environmental and resource conservation performance over its life-cycle. These new priorities expand and complement the classical building design concerns: economy, utility, durability, and delight. Green design emphasizes a number of new environmental, resource and occupant health concerns:
- Reduce human exposure to noxious materials.
- Conserve non-renewable energy and scarce materials.
- Minimize life-cycle ecological impact of energy and materials used.
- Use renewable energy and materials that are sustainably harvested.
- Protect and restore local air, water, soils, flora and fauna.
- Support pedestrians, bicycles, mass transit and other alternatives to fossil-fueled vehicles.
Most green buildings are high-quality buildings; they last longer, cost less to operate and maintain, and provide greater occupant satisfaction than standard developments. Sophisticated buyers and lessors prefer them, and are often willing to pay a premium for their advantages. What surprises many people unfamiliar with this design movement is that good green buildings often cost little or no more to build than conventional designs. Commitment to better performance, close teamwork throughout the design process, openness to new approaches, and information on how these are best applied are more important than a large construction budget.