Renovating for Sustainability

Summary

Motivated by the prospect of increased property values, reduced utility bills, and an interest in jumping on the sustainability bandwagon, a noted upturn in green building upgrades is helping designers and real estate developers stay busy while waiting for the economy to recover. In fact, many of the larger property management outfits have set up teams to undertake projects seeking LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED-EBOM, also referred to as LEED-EB), a certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. For these companies, going certifiably green—without major renovations—is an added client service that mirrors growing tenant and end-user interest in green building measures.

What you will learn

By reading this article, you should be able to:

Explain the benefits and challenges of green building renovation and retrofit projects, including the use of LEED-EBOM.
List candidate building systems and materials that can contribute to a LEED-certified or otherwise sustainable renovation project.
Describe the differences between LEED-EB and LEED-NC.
Evaluate renovation strategies based on their impact in terms of energy savings, water conservation, occupant health benefits, and other green building attributes.

Read the full article and take the course.

We offer the following recommendations in the hope that they will help step up the pace of high-performance building reconstruction in the U.S. and Canada. We consulted many experts for advice, but these recommendations are solely the responsibility of the editors of Building Design+Construction. We welcome your comments. Please send them to Robert Cassidy, Editorial Director: rcassidy@sgcmail.com.