High Performance (Green) Buildings offer superior performance in a variety of areas, including:
- Functionality
- Energy and water efficiency
- Quality of the indoor environment (air quality, thermal comfort, lighting)
- Waste management and air emissions
- Site disturbance and storm water management
- Transportation options for occupants
- Longevity (durability, adaptability to changing building user needs)
…without necessarily increasing capital costs.
Some strategies that are typically used to achieve high performance include:
- Thermally efficient roofs, walls and windows that reduce heating loads and enhance thermal comfort.
- Building shape and orientation, thermal mass and daylighting strategies that reduce cooling loads.
- Significantly smaller HVAC systems and efficient electrical lighting strategies that capitalize on daylighting.
- Water efficient supply and waste fixtures.
- Adaptable interior designs, providing visual access to the outdoors and access to daylight.
- Interior finishes and installation methods having lower VOC emissions.
- Landscaping strategies that require little or no irrigation, permit groundwater replenishment and provide on-site stormwater management.
- Siting to minimize stress on natural systems either by building on previously contaminated sites or avoiding ecologically sensitive areas.