Comparing Green Solutions

There are many building solutions available that provide a wide range of Green benefits. Designing a building that creates the perfect balance of high performance and sustainable attributes can require the comparison of hundreds of solutions. Designers are often challenged with ranking the attributes they want in the building and selecting the products that will provide those benefits within their budgets. This often results in tough decisions and, in some cases, compromised goals.

The design goals for any new office or major renovation project should feature both high performance and sustainable attributes. High performance features are not always thought of as green but are critical to creating a modern office. Items such as flexible and adaptable indoor spaces and improved indoor environments are all high performance attributes. Sustainable features are the elements that are very common to green construction such as energy and water usage, recycled content and greenhouse gases emitted to produce and ship the products.

There are many high performance and sustainable strategies available to achieve your goals however, very few deliver both, and do it cost effectively. Any strategy that delivers multiple benefits should be considered over those that only benefit a building or its occupants in a specific way.