OVERVIEW
Reduced operational costs, improved occupant health and productivity, and buildings with small ecological footprints: these are the ways we make the case for green buildings.
What about first cost?
Perhaps to the detriment of green building adoption, we’ve been letting flashy products and innovative case studies paint a picture of higher first costs for green buildings. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Constraints fuel creativity, and plenty of projects are leveraging budgets limitations to meet sustainability goals by designing simpler, more effective spaces.
IN-DEPTH
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Embracing the Economy as a Design Challenge
Feature Article
How architects, community developers, and others are experimenting with new models to support progressive design.
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Mouth, Meet Money: Case Studies of Outcome-Based Design
Feature Article
Performance-based incentives are a growing (and positive) trend. They’re not as risky as they sound, but there are some steps you should be taking to prepare.
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LEED v4 Tips from Early Adopters: Earn High Ratings Without Added Costs
Feature Article
You can avoid lower LEED v4 scores and keep costs in check. Here’s how—including the pitfalls you need to watch out for.
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Circular Economy at Scale: Six International Case Studies
Feature Article
These teams are applying radical life-cycle thinking to entire projects—and redefining what building ownership means in the process.
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How to Make Integrated Project Delivery Work for Your Project
Feature Article
Early successes with IPD are now legendary but also fostered misconceptions. We deconstruct those and provide tips to ensure collaboration translates to results.
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How to Build Green At No Added Cost
Feature Article
Avoiding cost premiums on green projects is not only possible: it's a good idea, focusing design teams on simple, effective designs that can deliver savings for years to come.
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Three Imperatives to Create the Future of Green Building
Feature Article
The industry will be in a better place a decade from now if we master these skills.
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Retrocommissioning: Big Savings for Big Buildings
Feature Article
Retrocommissioning or RCx can be a valuable tool for commercial building owners. RCx addresses the same scope as new building commissioning but is performed on existing buildings. RCx can improve building performance, save energy and money-especially for large buildings.
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Cost-Effective Green Retrofits: Opportunities for Savings in Existing Buildings
Feature Article
Between lighting, water use, mechanical systems, the building envelope, and occupant health, existing buildings are rife with cost-effective retrofits and operational opportunities that also offer environmental benefits. Improvements range from the painfully obvious to the more complex and involved.
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Integrated Project Delivery: A Platform for Efficient Construction
Feature Article
Integrated project delivery, or IPD, is a new contract mechanism for design and construction. Among its benefits for green building, it enshrines integrated design and building information modeling (BIM) into a legally supportive framework.
