Making Energy Work: Building a Sustainable Energy Economy in the Southeast

Green Building 101

Green building significantly reduces environmental impact of a building while increasing the quality, comfort and efficiency of the building.  Green building encourages a holistic approach which begins at the planning stage and includes everything from efficient use of water, energy and materials to the transport and construction waste management system.  In order to understand green building as a concept, it is divided into categories that make it easier for industry professionals and homeowners to focus on.

Community and Site Planning/Lot Design and Preparation

The best way to make sure you incorporate as many green building technologies and applications as possible is to PLAN, PLAN, PLAN!  When deciding where to build it is important to keep a few things in mind:
  • Avoid environmentally sensitive areas
  • Look at using an infill, greyfield, or brownfield site
  • Clustering homes to enable more open space

Some of the important issues to consider during site and lot design are how the sun moves across the sky, orientation, water drainage and soil type, accessibility, slope disturbance, existing vegetation and climate characteristics.  This will help architects, builders, third party certifiers and owners decide how to prioritize issues and build the most effective and efficient building possible.

Landscaping can play a major role in site planning and development because of the impact vegetation has on annual heating and cooling bills, soil quality and the aesthetic value it lends to your space.  Xeriscaping is a strategy that uses native plants from the area and is drought resistant, able to live on rainwater and available groundwater.

An important part in preparation for a site is construction and waste management plans.  A good rule of thumb when developing these plans is the three R’s:  reduce, reuse and recycle.  Try to order and use only the amount of materials needed, reuse as much of the construction waste as possible and recycle the rest.

Energy Efficiency

Whether building a new residence, commercial, industrial or state and local government building or retrofitting and existing building, energy efficiency can be one of the most beneficial techniques to increasing comfort and quality while reducing utility bills. 

Heating and cooling can use over 40% of a building’s energy and with an efficient HVAC design and system, you can have an upwards of 30% gain.  In existing homes and buildings, it may be beneficial to contact a Home Energy Rater (HERS) to perform an energy audit.  This will tell you where you are losing the most energy and what improvements can be made to increase energy efficiency.

There are many layers of energy efficiency in green building, starting with implementation of building orientation, increased insulation, sealed crawl space and duct work, Energy Star appliances and compact fluorescent light bulbs.  These technologies have a visible impact and a short rate of return.

Another layer of energy efficiency would include lighting for indoor and outdoor use.  Daylighting, compact and other fluorescent lighting, LED lighting and dimmers and other programmable controls can contribute largely to energy efficiency and savings.

The next layer of energy efficiency would include solar and other renewable energy implementation.  Solar water heating is an effective way to reduce your utility bill since 25% of a buildings energy usage comes from water heating and is often termed the “best bang for your buck.” Radiant floor heating involves piping water from the solar water heater throughout the building’s floors, which is an effective way to reduce your heating and cooling costs.  Other sources of renewable energy such as geothermal heat pumps, photovoltaics, wind, hydroelectric, passive solar and daylighting are available for tax credits.  North Carolina has the largest state tax incentives available for renewable energy technologies and therefore provides a good rate of return.  Click here for more information on tax incentives. 
(residential, commercial, industrial, energy star, lending, etc.)

Water Efficiency

There are two types of water usage in building – indoor and outdoor water use. 

Typical indoor water use includes:
  • Toilets
  • Appliances: clothes washers, dishwashers, cooling and heating
  • Faucets
  • Leaks
  • General use:  rinsing, showers, car washing, product/service requirements (example: restaurant, manufacturing, etc.)

Typical outdoor water use includes:
  • Landscaping
  • Runoff from concrete and other impervious materials
  • Irrigation
  • Wastewater Treatment

Several water efficiency techniques can be applied to existing and new buildings.  For example, low-flow toilets, faucets and showerheads can be built in or replaced.  Building efficiently can ensure that piping and plumbing are leak free and existing buildings can provide regular maintenance to ensure there are no leaks in or outside of the building.  Testing water quality is also important and water sampling for lead, copper, pH, arsenic and other chemicals is recommended.

Other systems such as rain water harvesting, filtration, catchment, pump systems, tanks and cisterns can be implemented for many of the above listed water usage.  A solution may be as easy as installing rain barrels under your gutters or having a catchment system designed for toilet, irrigation and landscaping use installed under the building.  Green roofing and rain gardens are also efficient and aesthetic uses for storm water.

The Urban Cost Share Program started as a pilot project in Mecklenberg county.  The Urban Cost Share Program is an incentive-based program to help landowners address natural resource concerns on their properties.  Approved applicants are reimbursed 75% of the cost, up to $3000, associated with installing approved best practices on their land in specified watershed areas.  For more information on the Urban Cost Share Program visit http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/LUESA/Water+and+Land+Resources/Programs/Conservation/UCSP.htm

Resource Efficiency

When deciding what materials to use in a building, there are several factors to take into consideration.
  • Durability:  expected maintenance, quality and life of the product
  • Recycled content:  originated from a recycled material or has the ability to be recycled as a waste product
  • Embodied energy:  the amount of energy that goes into creating, packaging, transporting, recycling or disposing of a selected material
  • Reusability:  use materials from deconstructed buildings, reclaimed products, salvaged and scrap materials when possible
  • Renewability:  materials that are manufactured from rapidly renewable resources
  • Quantity:  reduce amount of materials used by designing an efficient and functional floor plan

In order to decide what green materials are and how they will be used in a building, one must look at the life-cycle assessment (LCA).  Consideration of which products to use, what the positive and negative features are and balancing those with the design and construction of the building are important decisions to be made during the planning process.

Some suggestions when choosing materials:

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that levels of air pollution inside the home are two to five times higher than outside.  A major  part of IEQ is Indoor Air Quality (IAQ).  Poor indoor air quality can lead to and irritate asthma, allergies, eye irritations, headaches and respiratory problems.  Mold and mildew issues, especially in the southeastern United States are at the root of several of these problems.

Some issues to consider for IEQ and IAQ are as follows:
  • Moisture control
  • Ventilation systems
  • Pest Management
  • Acoustics
  • Light Intensity
  • Building Materials
  • Radon Control
  • Tobacco Products
  • Carbon Monoxide

Defining the sources of above listed issues and building a residence, commercial, industrial or state and local government building to eliminate these sources from entering the building is the first step in achieving IEQ.  Strategically planning where items like the dryer vent, HVAC backdraft and other sources of pressure are released, preferably closest to the source, is an important role in preventing the problem.  Choosing materials with low-emissions and volatile organic compounds (VOC) can have a major effect on increasing IAQ, along with proper storage of toxic chemicals outside the living space.

 Allowing for air exchange to remove stale inside air and moisture is effective in increasing IAQ, but not through leaky unplanned infiltrations.  Filtration techniques are also important in determining what systems such as pleated, electrostatic, electronic or HEPA will work best for the building and occupants.

Many of our Business Members provide the above listed products and services and can be found by visiting our Business Member Directory.