Posts Tagged 'Green Building'

Green Building Trends for 2012

Published January 23, 2012 going green Leave a Comment
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Leaves. Image Source: Public domain.

After identifying the primary discussions on green construction, urban awareness, and environmental consciousness among varied sectors (architects, developers, policymakers, appraisers, lenders, builders, homeowners, etc.), the Earth Advantage Institute, a nonprofit green construction organization has identified the top ten green building trends for 2012:

1. Higher Urban Density. Empty nesters and yuppies will be moving in to the city and building laneway homes (similar to a carriage house behind the main house) and accessory dwelling units this coming year. The reason? A sustainable lifestyle and closeness to big city opportunities.

2. Green multifamily homes. An increase in multifamily building certifications is another trend, especially in progressive areas.

3. Home remodels. Many families will also be looking into remodeling their homes to make them much more energy-efficient.

4. Testing of new green materials. Engineers and architects are reluctant to use these new materials right now, but more testing can only contribute to the development and refinement of environmentally friendly technologies.

5. Energy tracking devices. Environmentally consciousness homeowners are increasingly willing to use energy trackers to assess the performance of appliances.

6. Energy education for commercial establishments. By this year, companies will realize the benefits of saving energy.

7. Transparency in marketing. Construction firms and real estate professionals will be compelled to disclose the merits of what they are building and selling. This is a commitment that Norsteel has always done.

8. Valuable and accurate appraisals. With the increasing number of appraisers, it will be a lot easier for buyers and sellers to know the precise value of a green building.

9. Adoption of residential energy ratings for homeowners. With the release of the Department of Energy’s Home Energy Score, it will be easier for homeowners to compare their energy use to others in the same building category and area.

10. Smart grid-compatible high-performance houses. Homeowners will now be able to monitor and control their electricity usage, all through a remote command.

Self-Storage Buildings Can Be Green Too!

Published January 17, 2012 going green Leave a Comment
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Commercial buildings, residential apartments, and hotels have been spearheading the road towards energy-efficient green buildings. We’ve seen drastic developments in these industries, but what’s the next big thing in green building?

Believe it or not, self storage facilities are have quietly but decidedly moving towards environmental awareness and energy efficiency. If you’re an owner of a storage facility yourself, here are a few tips that might help you lessen the costs of maintaining your business.

Use prefab steel buildings.

Prefab buildings are easy enough to set up, and make the best storage facilities. Storage facilities that are expanding opt for steel prefab buildings, because of its space-saving and energy-efficient qualities. Not to mention that they are easily customizable.

Have a natural garden area to purify runoff water.

Your storage facility can learn from Big Yellow Self Storage in Bromley, London. The business received an Environmental Award for having created garden areas so the runoff water will get naturally purified. This is much better than letting the toxic water go straight to the sewer system.

Replace lighting with fluorescent bulbs.

If you cannot invest on solar panels, you can instead replace your current lighting with fluorescent bulbs. They eat up much less electricity and will even give a laid back retro vibe to the storage rooms of your customers. Another option is to use motion-sensor light bulbs to save energy. This will also save your customers and staff from having to turn on and off the light constantly.

Set-up facilities using recycled materials.

Several storage facilities have gone the extra mile and built facilities made of recycled and reusable materials. This may take a bit of effort, but it is well worth it because the facility will not only be cheaper to put up, but also cheaper to maintain.

Pre-fabricated steel buildings have always been more green than other alternatives, but have only now been associated with the popularity of environmental building practices. And with innovations in building accessories, these buildings will be even more environmentally sound.

Nisku Building. Image Credit: Norsteel Buildings.

Why Green Buildings Spell Success for Companies

Published December 16, 2011 going green Leave a Comment
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Green building. Image Source: Green Step.

Commercial building tenants are on the lookout for green buildings and it’s not difficult to understand why. With the growing research on green buildings, more companies are starting to get convinced that the benefits of staying in a green building far outweigh the costs.

Green buildings are the best workplaces

A huge portion of a person’s life is spent in the office. With that, the need for a conductive workplace that offers optimum productivity is clear. Research shows that green buildings offer high productivity gains for employee. Employees who work in green buildings have higher job satisfaction, motivation, and productivity. Naturally, all these translate to a more positive work environment and higher returns for the company.

This only means that a company who stays in a green building gets to retain its most valuable employees. It also means that it gets to attract other employees to join the company.

Corporate social responsibility is promoted

Brand image and reputation are two things that a company can’t easily create. In this aspect, staying in a green building can definitely help. Choosing a green building means that a company is responsible enough to recognize the importance of contributing to the environment. With that comes the positive influence on one’s brand image and reputation.

Sustainability is usually at the core of most company’s vision-mission and goals. However, very few of these companies follow through and use green space as their workplace. Companies that do have reaped benefits and showed significant reductions in terms of their financial expenses. A commitment to having a workplace in a green building will ultimately allow companies to maximize their savings, which can be used to fulfill the other goals and missions of the company.

Norsteel recognizes these benefits, and fully supports companies that establish their workplace in green buildings. With steel prefab buildings, establishing a green office space can be done in a jiffy.

A US National Green Building Code is Underway

Published November 15, 2011 going green 1 Comment
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Green Building. Image Source: Public domain.

A sign that a country is taking sustainable and green construction seriously is if it starts creating legal documents to further its cause. Such is the effort of the International Green Construction Code, which has recently approved a National Green Building Code in the US after two years of research and development. It will apply to all commercial and residential buildings, whether new or renovated, that are at least three stories high.

The National Green Building Code is the first comprehensive law on green construction in the US and covers all key aspects of architectural design, construction, energy use, water efficiency, waste management, and site aspect among others. The Code represents a serious shift in construction standards toward energy conservation and green construction.

While most local governments and states have already expressed their willingness to adopt the code and have in fact done so, it will not be officially published until March 2012.

Construction designers and construction companies are bound to ask: how does the National Green Building Code differ from the LEED? One significant difference is that LEED is voluntary. While a lot of buildings are constructed in consonance with LEED standards, many buildings don’t.

The new code, on the other hand, has mandatory “floors” standards that must be reached by every residential and commercial building that qualifies. LEED and the code don’t have to clash though. By setting “floors”, LEED can set higher standards that will eventually result in buildings being rewarded for exceeding the minimum standards raised by the National Green Building Code. While the code sets the minimum, the LEED represents the ideal.

Among the mandatory requirements of the national code are the disqualifications of the use of greenfields or undeveloped lands for infrastructure, subject to certain exceptions. In terms of materials, 55% of materials must be based on recycled, recyclable, bio-based, or salvaged content. The building must also have a lifespan of at least 6 years. In terms of energy and water efficiency, there are standards for lighting, sub-metering, mechanical systems, demand-response automation, rainwater storage, and graywater systems. There are also elective choices, at least one of which must be chosen by the green building.

Europe Considers Prefab Buildings “Green”

Published November 3, 2011 going green Leave a Comment
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Image Source: Norsteel.

Europe has answered this question nearly twenty years ago with a resounding “yes.” While most of America and Canada are in the early adoption phase of prefab green building construction, the investment of most of Europe in prefab buildings has already paid off.

In the UK and Ireland, around 30% of newly constructed homes are prefabricated, while in Scotland, a whopping 70% are prefabricated. That’s certainly a lot, considering that in the 1990s, prefabrication accounted for only 1% of the buildings.

In Europe, prefab is known as offsite construction (OSC). Put together using modern methods of construction, more commonly known as MMC, the prefabricated buildings are made in factory-controlled environments. European prefab buildings are made of high-quality construction materials, in the well-founded belief that it results in a positive impact to the environment.

What led Europe to prefab buildings is its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol in 1998, along with its ratification in 2002. According to the Kyoto Protocol, the 15 EU members must commit to reducing carbon emissions by as much as 8% from 1990 to 2012. If not, the member in fault will be named, shamed, and even fined.

This spurred many EU countries to quickly devise and implement policies and plans to build energy-efficient residential structures—which account for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. In 1990, both UK and Ireland foresaw that there would be a housing boom, as around 22,000 to 90,000 houses would be built in Ireland 10 to 15 years hence. UK, on the other hand, predicted that around 160,000 to 250,000 residential structures would be built in the same number of years starting from 1990.

This caused both Ireland and UK to create laws and raise energy-efficiency standards by as much as 40% in 2008, then 20% in 2010. Offsite construction was also encouraged by their governments. Even public and social housing required carbon-neutral homes!

True to its commitment to reduce greenhouse emissions, every home in Europe is required to have an Energy Performance certificate—a legal document that requires the disclosure of CO2 emissions and annual energy costs of a home.

Unsurprisingly enough, in order to meet all these standards imposed by the government, people turned to prefab buildings. Made of high quality materials and known to be able to withstand even the harshest of weather conditions, prefab structures, such as those from Norsteel, in a manner of speaking, have saved the day.

Green Buildings Help Employee Productivity

Published October 27, 2011 going green Leave a Comment
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500 Collins Street in Melbourne, Australia. Image Source: ResourceSmart.

Is there any clear link between employee productivity and green buildings? The increasing amount of evidence suggests that, indeed, green and sustainable buildings are a major factor in employee motivation and work satisfaction.

Studies have long identified the factors that drive employee productivity, such as management issues, relational factors with colleagues, salary, individual recognition, feedback, incentives, bonuses and a lot of other factors. Surprisingly, green buildings do play a role in boosting employee morale.

According to a study by Ernst & Young, among the factors that drain or reduce employee productivity are lack of innovation (15%), obsolete technology (8%), organizational structure (23%), and management problems (54%). Undeniably, the lack of natural ventilation and access to natural light are two important qualities of green buildings that are intricately linked with lack of innovation and obsolete technology, ultimately resulting in an unhappy workplace.

This has been confirmed by a number of studies done in the past. One is a 2006 study of a retrofit of the 500 Collins Street in Melbourne, Australia. With the retrofit, the buildings were provided with better ventilation and natural lighting systems. The result is a whopping 44% reduction of the monthly sick leave average of employees. Also, the secretaries posed a 9% improvement in their average typing speed.

Generally, well-lit and ventilated areas will decrease headaches, as well as sore eyes, fatigue, concentration, colds and flus. Employees tend to be happier and more productive when there is more natural light and views to the outside.

Increased productivity is just a great side effect for green building. While there are obvious benefits to building more environmentally sustainable buildings, the externalities they create such as happier, healthier and more productive employees should offset initial investments.

Survey Shows That Green Buildings are Great for School Infrastructure

Published October 20, 2011 going green Leave a Comment
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A conceptual drawing of a future green school. Image Source: Green market.

A recent independent nationwide survey reports that 75% of Americans are willing to support the drive for green and eco-friendly construction. The survey shows that Americans support federal funding for school building improvements that will lower carbon emissions, comply with LEED certification requirements, and ultimately help save on taxes.

The survey  shows an alarming statistic: 1/3 of schools in the US are in “poor condition”, while only 6% can be deemed to be in great shape.

The study also shows that Americans are becoming increasingly aware of the need to overhaul the school infrastructure systems so that learning environments can become efficient, healthy, and conducive for learning. Most Americans no longer believe in just updating school infrastructure; they’d go as far as insist that school buildings must comply with current standards of energy efficiency.

This is certainly needs more advocacy in order to advance building process. One green school alone can reduce the country’s carbon emissions by as much 585,000 pounds annually. Aside from helping the environment, green schools are also shown to have a positive impact on students. Seventy percent of school administrators report that green schools reduce absenteeism and even improved the performance of students. Also, with less money spent on heating and cooling costs, schools can redirect their funds for teachers’ salary and other school resources. Without a doubt, investing in green schools is not a waste of time.

The government, unfortunately, thinks otherwise. In 2008, the US government chose to postpone an $254 billion-project to maintain and update school buildings. This is certainly an unacceptable move, after the US Government Accountability Office has reported that around 25,000 schools in the US are in need of replacement and repairs.

The survey was undertaken by the US Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools and United Technologies Corp.

We’ve always talked about the importance of green construction and the integral role of steel buildings.  This survey just goes to show that green construction can extend not just to office and commercial spaces but also to schools. And the result? Students that are more willing to learn, drastically reduced costs, and reduced carbon emissions. That’s a trade-off Norsteel is certainly willing to take.

The Growing Importance of Green Buildings in Commercial and Industrial Buildings

Published October 6, 2011 going green 1 Comment
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According to the US Energy Information Administration, commercial and industrial buildings take up as much as 80.9% of the total electricity expenditures in the US—to a total amount of $295 billion. As for natural gas expenditures, these buildings expend $215.5 billion or 64% of the total in the country.

Needless to say, saving energy for such buildings can go a long way in terms of electricity and natural gas expenditures. With energy-saving measures, as much as an aggregate amount of $20 billion can be saved by commercial and industrial buildings. This is where green buildings come in.

The growing importance of green buildings in cities like New York, Chicago, and Houston is such that it is an essential factor in estimating the “curb appeal” of office spaces—thus altering the factors that used to be of primary importance in the real estate market.

Most commercial and industrial buildings, as a matter of fact, are categorized into three classes: Class A, B, and C. These classifications determine the appeal of these buildings to companies as tenants. There are a variety of factors that determine the classification of a building, the most important of which is its infrastructure and built-in energy-saving measures.

Class A buildings are easily the most sought after and prestigious of the crop, with quality design and infrastructure. These buildings are also the most accessible within the city and get occupied the fastest.

Class B buildings, on the other hand, are average in terms of ventilation, finish, and accessibility. While these buildings are built well enough, they’re not quite at par with Class C  buildings.

Class C buildings are functional and quite average. As most commercial and industrial buildings are restructuring according to the standards of green buildings, this classification is becoming a dying breed.

For a much desired Class A status, commercial buildings also have to live up to the standards of green buildings. As such, eco-friendly construction materials, efficient building commissioning, limited effect on the surroundings, and well-adjusted features to the local climate are taken into account.  The importance of green buildings in classifying commercial spaces just shows that green buildings are no longer just an option but increasingly becoming a necessity in the construction industry.

LEED 2012: New Changes to the Rating System

Published September 5, 2011 going green Leave a Comment
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BC Cancer Research Centre, a LEED Gold Certified Building. Image Credit: IBI Group, Peter Wilmse & Ivo Talker; Henriquez Partners.

LEED ratings have done great things for environmental awareness. The exclusive, environmentally-conscious building design protocols have helped raise public consciousness about eco-friendly design, efficiency and have inspired beautiful, eco-friendly design projects. That is not to say the system is without its critics. Some industry insiders have complained that LEED points are easy to rack up and difficult to quantify in some convoluted building processes. Another issue is the fact that in many cases, LEED certification is a result of a one-time assessment of a building’s design and construction, with little to no follow-up in the future.

An article recently published on the Fast Company website reports that the LEED system is about to undergo a bit of a transition. Going forward, LEED certification will now reflect how buildings are actually saving energy and water, and they ways they can improve.

The United States Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organization that administers LEED certifications, states that it wants its volunteer members to think of green buildings and LEED certification as assets rather than as items on a list. The revised system, coined LEED 2012, will debut in November, 2011, and will explore the new technologies and energy-efficient building practices that improve a structure’s overall efficiency.

Scot Horst, USGBC’s Senior VP for LEED tells Fast Company that the new system should be considered a “Zagat rating” for buildings.

Using LEED 2012, business owners can track the environmental performance of LEED-certified buildings with new apps from LEED Online. “Faster, cheaper, more automatic” is the new slogan for this new system.

Steel and LEED Buildings

Steel is an environmentally-friendly building material that is often used in LEED-certified buildings. Because it is highly recyclable and helps facilitate energy efficiency, steel makes an easy choice for environmentally-conscious builders. A large percentage of LEED buildings are comprised primarily of steel. Click here to learn more about steel’s environmentally-friendly properties.

Building a Customized Steel Warehouse

Published August 25, 2011 Norsteel Buildings News Leave a Comment
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Nowadays, building a steel warehouse building is easier than ever.  Warehouse design software, planning protocols and the availability of steel makes it a quick, efficient and cost-effective building material.

Here at Norsteel, we’re well-versed in the steel industry and have extensive experience working with steel warehouse buildings.  Visit the Norsteel website to learn more about how we can help with your large-scale steel projects.

Before you begin the process of commissioning a steel warehouse, there are a few things that need to be taken into account, such as regulations and building codes, budget, projected timeline and any specs that might be important to the builder (such as the number of employees the warehouse will house, the amount of equipment and product that will be inside at any given time, the desired dimensions, etc.).  It is on the onus of the customer to provide a potential builder/contractor with as much information as available when commissioning a steel warehouse building.  This can save time, money and effort for all involved in the project.

Once a steel warehouse building has begun, you will need to consider how the warehouse is to be heated and cooled, among other things.  Another step in the post-construction process is the formal creation of specs and blueprints, both of which will need to be commissioned and drawn up by a professional.

Steel is a highly customizable building material, and all parts will be created to specs at a factory and then shipped in for onsite assembly.  This is a quick and efficient way to construct a building and, provided there are no unforeseen circumstances, the project should be complete in a timely manner.

A finished building requires insulation, paint, doors, windows, and exterior finishes before it can house people, machinery and/or product.  Once complete, a building must be inspected and cleared by an inspector before it is able to open for business.

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