|
Back to News
GOING ……GOING……GREEN!!!!!!
For many of us, the term “going green” at
this time of year congers up thoughts of Spring, baseball,
soccer and just plain getting outside of our germ laden
homes( and of course offices !!) which we have been
confined to all winter!!! To architects however
it strikes a note of the onset of responsible design.
The “Green” buzzword has taken on a life
of its own (so to speak!). To say that we have
become inundated with all things “green” lately
is an understatement. But for the most part,
that’s a good thing. The focus on sustainability
in architectural design has deservedly come barging
to the forefront. National AIA has made environmental
design a part of their advocacy platform. The National
AIA Board of Directors “Directory of Public Policies
and Position Statements” has included four position
statements (42 thru 45) related to the architect’s
environmental responsibility of the practice of sustainable
design and the support of public policies and programs
reflecting the same. Much of the
focus on capital hill during our Grassroots conference
in February focused on advocacy of sustainability in
design.
Manufacturers have certainly taken the cue in developing “green” building
products. Entire national expos have been produced
representing these companies. There is no doubt that
there is more than one green construction product available
for any system of a building and the competition between
the major suppliers is heating up.
We have been either affected by the movement or actually
have been swept up in the whirlwind. Many of our chapter
members have become LEED certified and many more are
currently seeking that certification. The focus on
many of our chapter meetings and summer school classes
has been on “green” products and sustainable
design. Just as the discussions last decade focused
on ADA compliance in all of our offices and has now
been incorporated into our daily design routine, sustainable
design and the incorporation of “green” construction
product specification will become just as much a part
of our mainstream design in a short period of time.
Needless to say however, “going green” is
not necessarily inexpensive. It has been proven
that sustainable design, when implemented efficiently,
will indisputably reap a savings in the long run. It
is that long run however which developers are not enamored
with. Those initial “front end” costs
will keep a developer from allowing architects and
engineers to implement sustainable concepts in designing
their buildings.
“Green” material costs are gradually becoming
more cost effective. The key to the development
of a sustainable and responsible structure however
lies in part with the making those products more cost
efficient, but lies mainly with the accountability
of national, state and local governments to create
the incentives to developers to build “green”.
Fortunately we have seen many cities across the country
respond to the cause.
Many large and moderate sized cities have put in place
some of these incentives by offering density bonuses
to developers building “green”. In
addition to those density bonuses, the City of Chicago
offers an expedited building permit process for “green” building
design (wow, wouldn’t we all like that!). NYSERDA
has been very aggressive in offering not only funding
and other financial incentives, but technical assistance
in design as well. Even local communities in our chapter
area have responded on their own level. New Rochelle
has a mechanism in place which gives the city council
the flexibility to offer incentives in density to a
developer of a “green” building based on
an individual basis. It is this type of recognition
which is needed to advance the “green” movement
which undoubtedly will and for some of us has already
become a part of our office design regimen.
Return to Top |
