Not forced, arbitrary or incidental. We consider green design as being part of good design and it is integrated into every project as is possible. Good design is a great investment that you will get returns from everyday. Green design is part of the investment. You can only invest in the project what you can afford. We do not force our views or agenda on our clients - it is their project not ours. We do make suggestions of how green design elements and construction methods can enhance the comfort and performance of the project. Often these element save significant money on monthly bills that in turn can allow you to afford a larger mortgage payment or pay it off faster. The green elements have to make sense and not compromise other aspects of the project. Most people do not want to live in boxes with green hardware glued to it. The inclusion of green elements should be seamless unless the client wants it otherwise. Extra cost for green elements must be justified from a cost benefit, environmental and life cycle viewpoint. For this reason we tend towards passive, green elements.
Some green elements to include are obvious. For example: The inclusion of a waste water heat exchanger or bringing in outside combustion air for a wood burner are small extra expenses during initial construction but they will be beneficial fo the life of the project with no maintenance needs. The basic design should be the biggest part of green design. Orientation, massing, insulation, zoning, energy efficient lighting (and day lighting) and appliances etc will always be there and will always work. Active systems have been included in some of our designs after having investigated (by ourselves or the clients) the implications relative to their reliability, longevity and decommissioning. Active green systems are still fairly new and the technology changes rapidly, plus the manufacturers come and go as well as change products and designs, so ironically, commercially manufactured green systems are often disposable by default. We recommend keeping active systems simple and close to home/homemade so the owner can repair or improve it. Green systems should be an investment rather than an impulse buy at the big box store.
Timeless design, quality and type of construction, life cycle “analysis” of materials, and project size (amount of materials used) are components of green design that we take into account every time we design. Timeless design is always in style and doesn’t need to be drastically changed on a regular basis like trendy design. Quality construction is similar to timeless design in that it saves future materials and labor, it is not needed because it was done right the first time. Quality construction also means the project will be worth saving and rehabilitating rather than demolishing it. Low energy, long life materials are the foundation of green design as well as evaluating the size of the project. A smaller project, provided it meets the needs of the client, is the first step to take to save materials, labor and energy.