‘GREEN’ BUILDINGS:
Why do occupants appear more tolerant
of green buildings?
Indoor environment research on thermal comfort show that users are
more often tolerant of conditions where they have more control, sometimes
irrespective of whether conditions are actually physically better. Users appear
to be happier if they understand how the building is supposed to work either
because the design intent is made clear and/or because the controls are easy
to understand and work well.
Are ‘green’ buildings working from the building users’
perspective? This paper presents initial findings from 45
Australian buildings with a view to highlighting lessons
towards developing successful green buildings.
By ‘green’ we mean buildings that have been created with
explicit intent to include environmentally sustainable design
(ESD) features and principles. Although the objective may
be to create buildings with less environmental impact, they
may not necessarily achieve this in reality. While the relative
performance of buildings can be measured in terms of
aspects such as water and energy efficiency, it is vital to
understand the experience of the buildings from the users’
point of view. Not only can a poorly performing building affect
users’ well being and productivity, in addition, subsequent
measures needed to alleviate users’ discomfort can result
in great expense and in the building failing to achieve its
efficiency targets. Our discussion here deals with end-user
responses. A more complete picture would require study
of both technical performance, including detailed energy
assessment using measured data over a period of time, in
conjunction with occupant surveys. This is not attempted
within the present study, which is limited to building users’
experiences and feedback.
Why do occupants appear more tolerant
of green buildings?
Indoor environment research on thermal comfort show that users are
more often tolerant of conditions where they have more control, sometimes
irrespective of whether conditions are actually physically better. Users appear
to be happier if they understand how the building is supposed to work either
because the design intent is made clear and/or because the controls are easy
to understand and work well.
Homebuilders Go Green
As green technology becomes more prominent, the construction industry may see a further shift in that direction to accommodate increasing demand. This isn’t merely the case with private homes. Green technology is also being adopted in the commercial sector, and as we’ve seen recently, college campuses.
The building was designed by 60 interdisciplinary students from Stevens for the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon Competition. The biannual competition features 20 university teams from around the world competing to design energy-efficient solar homes. It culminates Oct. 3-13, as the homes are displayed to the public. Once the competition is finished, the team from Stevens will donate its building, dubbed “Ecohabit,” to CSUSM.
The technologies incorporated into the new veteran’s center will include solar shingles, a rainwater harvesting system, as well as an energy-and-water-saving system for heating, cooling, and plumbing. The building will also have a central control program which collects and analyzes sensor data from each system in order to maximize efficiency.
