8 Benefits of Green Buildings: Investing in green buildings reaps big rewards now and for years to come

Green buildings are more than a fashion statement. Many architects, builders and clients agree that smart, sustainable buildings are becoming a necessity. Why? Because according to some estimates, buildings account for almost one-half of the world's material and energy consumption, one-sixth of fresh water use, and a quarter of all wood harvested. As costs for sustainable materials and products drop, building green is really the most cost-effective kind of design and construction. More and more, you can't afford not to build green. 

1. Lower Green Building Costs

Even if you read no further, this should convince you: Green buildings save money, starting the very first day of construction. This is true for green homes as well as sustainable office buildings, factories, churches, schools and other structures.

A 2003 study by the California Sustainable Building Task Force shows that an initial green design investment of just two percent will produce savings greater than 10 times the initial investment, based on a very conservative 20-year building lifespan. For example, $40,000 in green design in a $2 million dollar project will be repaid in just two years. Over 20 years, the savings will amount to $400,000. In other words, ka-CHING!

2. Improved Productivity

A number of studies -- and common sense -- indicate that building occupants who are healthy and comfortable are more productive. A study of 31 green buildings from the City of Seattle found that absenteeism was reduced by 40 percent. Another study, sponsored in part by commercial real estate giant Cushman & Wakefield, reported 30 percent fewer sick days among one company's employees, and discovered a 10 percent increase in net revenue per employee in another company, after each office moved to LEED-certified buildings. Companies in green offices also have an edge in attracting and retaining great employees.

3. Green Buildings Have Higher Market Value

Both residential and commercial buildings retain a high resale value if they include sustainable design components. The value to prospective buyers comes from knowing their utility and maintenance costs will be lower in green buildings that outperform non-green buildings. Occupancy levels are consistently higher, and vacancy rates lower, in sustainable office buildings.

4. Healthy Occupants in Green Buildings

Sick building syndrome is a problem that has plagued homes and offices for decades, and costs U.S. businesses millions of dollars each month. Green buildings, however, avoid many of these problems with healthy ventilation systems and use of non-toxic building materials. 

The EPA estimates that indoor air pollution may be 2 to 5 times worse, and sometimes more than 100 times worse, than outdoor air quality. Of 146,400 lung cancer deaths in 1995, 21,100 were related to the radon gas that's found in many buildings. About 20 million people (and over 6 million children) suffer from asthma, which can be triggered by the poor indoor air quality that's often found in non-green buildings.

5. Tax Benefits for Green Buildings

Recent federal tax incentives have been enacted to encourage the design and construction of energy-efficient green buildings, both residential and commercial. Many state and local governments have also passed tax provisions to encourage energy-efficient buildings. Ask your accountant or tax expert about the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, PL 110-185 (ESA), the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008, PL 110-289 (HATA), the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, PL 110-343 (EESA), and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, PL 111-5 (ARRA) to see if these apply to your home or commercial real estate.

6. Improved Retail Sales

A California survey of over 100 stores (all operated by the same retailer) found that sales were 40 percent higher when stores were lighted with skylights instead of electric lighting. Retailers who can use daylight in their interiors can also lower their electric costs. All these factors are further proof that green buildings might actually make money.

7. Lower Utility Demands in Green Buildings

One indirect benefit to green buildings is often overlooked: reduced demand on electric, gas and water utilities means that these infrastructures can do more with less. This can result in lower municipal utility costs over the long run as utilities need not expand and can avoid passing those expansion costs onto utility customers.

8. Improved Quality of Life

It's hard to put a dollar-amount value on quality of life. How much, for example, would you pay to enjoy a less-stressful day, or to avoid catching the flu? When all of the aforementioned benefits to green architecture and sustainable design are added up, the enhanced lifestyles shared by all of society makes sense, both economically and environmentally. Again, as we move into an era of smarter technology and more expensive natural resources, we can't afford not to build green.

Trash to Treasure: 6 Awesome Buildings Made of Recycled Materials (part 2)

1000 Recycled Doors Transform the Facade of a 10-Story Building in Seoul

South Korean Artist Choi Jeong-Hwa used 1000 brightly colored recycled doors to transform a bland 10-story building into an eye-popping visual indulgence. Jeong-Hwa is a master of using found objects to make provocative spaces, and the project is one of his most ambitious attempts to place normal things in an extraordinary way. The doors stretch up the scaffolding of the mid-rise, giving the hulking mass a pixelated charm.

Burton Street Peace Garden’s Learning Pavilion Was Built From Recycled Materials for $3,900

This interactive learning pavilion made from discarded objects found on-site was built during a 10 week design-build course this last summer in Asheville, North Carolina. Students from three regional universities (North Carolina State, Appalachian State and Virginia Tech) worked in conjunction with the Asheville Design Center to build the pavilion for the Peace Gardens. The pavilion utilizes solar passive design and rainwater harvesting, and it is currently used by the community for education programs and workshops. Giant Texaco signs, ironing boards, windows, screens and other found objects decorate the artistic and functional shed, which cost less than $4,000 to build.

Maisongomme: A Funky Garden Office and Shed Made from Recycled Car Tires

Maisongomme is a sustainable garden shed made from locally found scrap materials and completely covered with discarded rubber tires. The structure was created for Peter Merry and Marcella Siebert by Refund as a functional space with room for an office and storage. Already getting a lot of use from the couple, this peculiar and quirky eco-dwelling is also full of playful details!

Trash to Treasure: 6 Awesome Buildings Made of Recycled Materials (part 1)

Artist Victor Moore Builds an Incredible Junk Castle for Just $500

This incredible “junk castle” designed by Victor Moore is made entirely out of scrap materials, and here’s the best part. The whole thing only cost $500. Now we realize that not everyone is interested to live in a house that was put together with materials salvaged from the nearby junk yard, but this is a clear indicator of what can be done with a bit of ingenuity and out-of-the-box thinking. Moore’s MFA assemblage thesis was constructed in 1970!

Starbucks Opens New Reclamation Drive Thru Made From Recycled Shipping Containers

When a major corporation like Starbucks creates a new branch out of 4 recycled shipping containers, it starts to seem like the rest of the world might finally catch on to the numerous benefits of recycling existing materials. This awesome reclamation drive-thru in Tukwila, Washington may be part of the company’s new branding strategy, which includes an emphasis on reducing energy and material use. And just when this new Starbucks seemed like it couldn’t be any cooler, we found out that it was designed to meet LEED certification.

Blocket Mini: 36 Reclaimed Windows Transformed Into a Rustic Guest House in Sweden

This charming building in Sweden is made from cinder blocks and 36 reclaimed window frames, and we think it’s absolutely lovely. The waterfront cottage designed by Karin Matz is minimally-furnished and flooded with daylight, and makes a wonderful guest house for anyone interested in a rustic getaway!

Artist Damien Hirst Unveils Plans to Build 500 Eco-Homes in UK

Damien Hirst is perhaps best known as an extraordinarily provocative, sometimes playful artist who makes an incredible amount of money from his conceptual art — in a surprising shift, he now aims to channel some of that wealth into a new role as a pioneer in eco-housing development. Hirst, who is purported to have a horror of “anonymous, lifeless buildings,” has unveiled plans to construct over 500 eco-homes in an effort to revitalize his adopted hometown of Ifracombe in Devon, UK. The proposed homes include renewable energy solutions such as concealed wind turbines in their roofs and photovoltaic solar panels.

Hirst owns 40% of the land included in the proposal, which would develop three farms including Winsham farm, which Hirst purchased 10 years ago. Hirst’s representative for the project, architect Mike Rundell of MRJ Rundell Associates stressed that Hirst hopes for the homes to be modern in design and technology, while incorporating decorative features appropriate to the historic area, including pitched roofs and bay windows. He added that each home should be “practical, make the most of natural light, and be big enough to live in.”

Ilfracombe, a former seaside resort and mining town of 11,000 is in the midst of plans to attract new growth and investment. While Hirst aims to create a pioneering blueprint for eco-home development in the UK, Rundell cautioned against any expectations of an altruistic non-profit affordable housing project in the style of Brad Pitt. Rundell stated “if the [local city] council insists on a very high level of affordable housing… the overall quality of the homes will drop,” adding “it’s our ambition to make them affordable, but houses like these are much more expensive than ordinary houses.”

Clemson Students Win Design To Zero Competition With Sustainable and Stylish LiveWork Units

Eric Laine and Suzanne Steelman from Clemson University’s Graduate School of Architecture recently took home first prize in Dow Solar's Design to Zero competition with their net plus live work units. By combining top floor residential units with a ground floor commercial space, the duo were able to maximize the use of a rooftop photovoltaic system that can produce more than enough energy for the complex. On top of environmental sustainability, LiveWork also promotes economic and social sustainability, making it an exciting urban design concept.

LiveWork by Eric Laine and Suzanne Steelman came out on top of the Dow Solar Design to Zero competition for its clever combination of sustainable building strategies and incorporation of both living and working space. Created for an urban location in Athens, Georgia, LiveWork is made up of three units for families of 2, 4 and 6 people. Each unit features a commercial space on the street level, which could be owned and operated by the family living above or rented out to another business as extra income. The second floor is where the families’ homes are located and is filled with natural sunlight.

Environmentally, the units are topped off with a large PV system to generate more than enough power for the store and the apartments making this a net plus project. Rainwater is collected off the roof and stored in underground cisterns for use in the buildings and for landscaping. Living walls provide shade during the summer, but shed leaves in the winter to let in more light. Capitalizing on the around the clock use of the project, energy efficiency is clearly gained whether it’s being used in the commercial space or up in the apartment. LiveWork is designed not only to provide a sustainable home for a family, but also a sustainable income for that family. Congrats to Steelman and Laine who have won a $20,000 prize for their design from Dow Solar.

UK’s First Amphibious House Approved for the River Thames, Floats on Rising Tides

Baca Architects was recently granted approval to build the UK’s first amphibious house on the banks of the Thames River in England! The test home will respond to the issue of rising floodwaters – a pressing world-wide problem caused by climate change. When faced with rising tides, the modern home will rise and float, keeping its occupants safely out of harm’s way.

The comfortable 738 square foot home will be built adjacent to the river’s shoreline, with only 32 feet of clearance should the waters rise over their normal levels. The Baca team conducted years of research to come up with a model home that would respond to flooding conditions and work with the flood to protect the home. The firm is a leader in waterfront architecture, and this an ideal site upon which to develop a flood-resistant home.

During dry times, the home will rest on fixed foundations that will keep it in place. But if flooding should occur, the entire structure will rise up in its dock, and buoy along with the flood waters. The house will be built in a flood-prone area called Flood Zone 3b, which is located on a tiny island in the Thames in Buckinghamshire.

Like other homes in Buckinghamshire, the home will be designed with a traditional pitched roof and other characteristics found in homes in the region. Although it will blend in our the outside, the home will be highly energy efficient thanks to lots of insulation and high-performance glazed windows. A surrounding garden will be planted as the first line of defense against flooding, and the home will react when the water reaches a threatening level, after providing a warning message to the residents.

The lightweight timber façade will rest between four vertical guideposts that will keep the structure in place and protected. The house is  planned for construction later this year, and it will provide a great model for dealing with flooding problems around the world.

Canada’s Gorgeous Green-Roofed VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre Opens to the Public!

Canada's brand new VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre is a flowing green building that blends into its surrounding landscape in Vancover. Designed by Perkins+Will, the billowing structure is sited amidst a thicket of tall and lush greenery, and it brings a harmonious balance between modern architecture and nature. From its rammed earth walls, all the way to the top of its green roof, this LEED Platinum building is also steeped in green building strategies that will help it achieve net-zero energy.

The design of Perkins+Will’s VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre was inspired by the organic forms and natural systems of a native orchid. The 19,000-square-foot building is organized into undulating green roof ‘petals’ that float above its rammed earth and concrete walls. The front entrance overhang darts to the sky, and a central atrium and skylight pours natural light into the center while also serving as a solar chimney that exhausts hot air. A warm wood finish bring a softness to the modern lines of the interior.

Designed to exceed LEED Platinum status, the Visitor Centre is pursuing the Living Building Challenge — the most stringent measurement of sustainability in the built environment. In addition to an expansive green roof that reduces heating and cooling requirements, the facility uses on-site, renewable sources to achieve net-zero energy on an annual basis. A photovoltaic system on the roof will generate electricity for the center, and hot water will be provided by a biomass boiler fed by dry wood waste reclaimed from the surrounding area. Measures have been implemented to sequester enough carbon to achieve carbon neutrality, and filtered rainwater is used for the building’s greywater requirements. Most impressively 100% of the blackwater is treated in an on-site bio-reactor.

Betillon Dorval-Bory’s Anabatic Office Makes Use of Natural Winds to Keep Cool In a Hot & Humid Climate

Paris-based architecture firm Betillon/Dorval-Bory has envisioned a modern facility for the new Fundecor office in the Sarapiqui region in Costa Rica. As the non-profit is dedicated to the preservation of the environment, they wanted an office that would reflect their ideals and sought ideas to maximize sustainability. Betillon/Dorval-Bory's proposal made use of climatic architecture to passively cool the Anabatic Office through natural ventilation, and the office building is carefully engineered to pull in fresh air at one side, releasing it on the other to create a constant stream of cooling and superior ventilation.

Betillon/Dorval-Bory‘s design for Fundecor’s new office began with an analysis of the site and the prevailing climatic conditions. Knowing that the tropical site would need some serious cooling, they opted for a super low-energy method that would rely on natural ventilation. Combining evaporative cooling with a venturi tube and stack effect, they designed a two-story building that would take fresh air in on one side and eject it the other.

Tucked into a hillside, the building cantilevers out to the landscape and it is on this end that the facade is open to take in fresh air. On the opposite side, which is anchored in the ground, sits a parking lot that soaks up the sun. As the hot air rises off the blacktop, air is sucked from inside the building, pulling even more fresh air in from the other side.

Inside the office building, wide and open circulation hallways provide space for air to travel, while individual contained pods act as office spaces and meeting rooms. These self-contained rooms are the only ones that are air conditioned, while the rest of the space is naturally ventilated. Natural daylight is used to minimize artificial lighting, while a metal mesh facade minimizes solar heat gain on the building. Interior materials were chosen for their ability to transmit air freely through the space. Although Betillon/Dorval-Bory did not win the design competition, they did receive an honorable mention for coming up with a refreshing concept.

Stunning Prefab by the School of Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright meets modern day prefab in the stunning Mod.Fab home, developed by students at Taliesin West in collaboration with their Dean Victor Sidy and Inhabitat favorite Jennifer Siegal. The goal of the collaboration was to build a prototype prefab conducive to elegant and sustainable living within the heart of the desert landscape. It only took a single picture for us to become instantaneous fans, and from passive solar design to photovoltaic panels and SIPs we’re thoroughly impressed with the project’s sustainable elements.

The Mod.Fab prefab runs a modest 960 feet and currently stands nearly completed on the campus grounds at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture Taliesin West, located just outside of Phoenix, AZ. Sourcing suppliers local to the area, the Taliesin team decided to go with SIPs (structural insulated panels) for the surrounding structure of the Prairie Mod, which allowed them to cut down on on-site construction time while reducing construction waste.

In addition to the SIP skin, the project will use a combination of passive and active environmental control systems including natural ventilation and lighting, and a gray water recycling system along with water catchment. Solar panels are installed adjacent to the bedroom, providing both privacy and power to the project while keeping costs down since the panels did not have to get integrated into the roof. The hope is that the structure will be entirely self sufficient in the end.

The project, entirely built by the students, now sits nearly complete furnished with furniture borrowed from Design Within Reach.

Superb-A House is a Net-Zero Modular Prefabricated Home in Venice Beach

mnm.MOD builds super energy-efficient, modular homes - and their Superb-A House in Venice Beach, California is a stellar example of their prefab building system. The Santa Monica-based prefab designer has developed a patented "thermo broken" insulated wall and flooring system that allows them to create a high-performance envelope. The system allows them to reduce costs, be flexible in terms of design, and quickly assemble projects while maintaining a high level of sustainability.

mnm.MOD‘s building system relies on an advanced wall system made from recycled steel framing, incorporated insulation, and a mechanical chase to achieve high U and R values. Fabricated off-site, the walls are built according to the specifications of the house, then transported to the site and assembled there. This results in a high level of quality in fabrication, the elimination of waste and quick on-site assembly. As to the design of the home, mnm.MOD carefully plans each home according to the site, sun orientation, climate, shading and wind. The design is then translated into a series of walls that further optimize the design.

Superb-A House is a two bedroom home which features a music room and a jewelry studio on the 2nd floor. Ample outdoor living spaces expand the home and take advantage of Venice Beach’s climate. Completed in May 2011, the 2,400 sq ft home is also net-zero energy. If at the end of the home’s life it is torn down, the wall systems can be taken apart and fully recycled.