Green Buildings Pay- the Benefits of Green Design: (offices and schools)

Prof Brian W Edwards Author of books : Green Buildings Pay Rough Guide to Sustainability Sustainable Architecture Green Architecture RIBA sustainability advisor 2000-2

Questions addressed in research:

Main Question :How do green buildings Pay?

What measures of benefit should we use What is the mix of Social, Economic and Environmental benefits Is it energy use that most matters What is the relationship between energy use, wellbeing, health and staff productivity Do green buildings produce image benefits for the company How is a green office defined (BREEAM)

Context

Buildings are responsible for 47% of UK energy use (heating, lighting and ventilation) Office buildings are responsible for 8% of UK energy use and 15% of electricity use Lighting and ventilation are main users of energy in UK offices Cooling often exceeds heating bills over typical year Staff costs (60-80%) exceed building costs (7-9%) and running costs (4-5%) over lifetime of office building.

Changing Perspectives on Green Office Design 1980-2008

Research methods

9 (12) case studies of green offices in UK Problem of defining the green office (used BREEAM) Triangulation of perspectives between developer, designer and user Qualitative and quantitative data UK and international comparisons UK government, RIBA, BCO funding

Diversity of case studies

Barclaycard, Northampton: Case study

The case studies

Building Helicon Building, London Architect Sheppard Robson Developer Manchester Assurance

Brindley Place, Birmingham

Longman HQ, Harlow Mistral Building, Reading

Siddell Gibson
Conran Roche Foster and Partners

Argent Group
Longman Group British Gas

PowerGen HQ, Coventry

British Gas Building, Leeds

Bennetts Associates
Foggo Associates

PowerGen
British Gas

BRE Offices, Watford

Feilden Clegg Bradley

Fitzroy Robinson and Partners RMJM

Building Research Establishment (BRE)

Barclays Group Landsdown Estates

Barclaycard HQ, Northhampton Milton Park, Oxford

Case studies: main green features

Milton Park Renewable energy Solar shading Public transport Natural working environment

Helicon

Mixed use Triple glazing atrium

Brindley Place Longman

Solar design Natural ventilation

High thermal mass Solar atria Public transport

Mistral

Radiant cooling Facade venting Water conservation

PowerGen

Orientation for cooling Shallow plan Thermal mass and atria

British Gas

Climatic facades Stepped atria Water recycling

BRE Office

Recycled construction materials Integrated solar and wind ventilation PV electricity

Barclaycard

Linear atria with active solar shading Water fabric cooling and recycling

BRE office, Watford

Helicon Building, London

British Gas Offices, Leeds

Initial issues from research question

Are there different perceptions between developer, designer and user What are the key motivations behind the commissioning of green offices What are the features that matter most to users of green offices Do different types of office affect the approach to green design

The different perspectives: Overall findings

Client wants commercial advantage through lower costs Client wants a green image for marketing purposes Designer thinks green enhances his reputation Designer is motivated by ethical concerns User wants a healthy working environment User wants control of the workspace environment

Specific benefits of green offices

2-4% increase in productivity of staff in green offices Enhanced company and tenant image Enhanced reputation of developer/ architect Raised ethos of neighborhood Lower utility bills and less exposure to rising energy costs Lower exposure to changing environmental legislation

What are the disadvantages

For developers buildings do not perform as predicted For developers technology not reliable For users, temperature ranges too great (forgiveness factor needed) For users it is important that there is respect for values of building For designer, extra design time, risk and cost For designer, extra construction cost and uncertainty

Case Study Example: Barclaycard Headquarters, Northampton, UK

2,600 staff in one building Social space driven by approach to environmental design (eg atria) Holistic approach to sustainable design- energy, water, health, interior landscape, wellbeing Excellent BREEAM rating Productivity up 4% with utility bills down 24% Building used as best practice example

Barclaycard Building. Fitzroy Robinson and Partners

Hidden benefits of green offices

Attraction and retention of best or committed staff Reduced stress through natural working environment Sends message of environmental care to neighbourhood Improves marketing of company Widens appeal of building (to tenants) Daylight improves concentration

Reality of performance (BUILDING)

Buildings do not perform as predicted (5-25% energy gap over BREEAM assessment) Air-tightness is problem (draughts) Poor window design, esp internal blinds and external shading Lack of user responsiveness leads to sabbatage of controls Noise, esp in open plan

Realities of performance (USERS)

Users like to control their individual workspace environment Users do not trust computerised building management systems Users like natural materials Users like atria for social reasons Users tolerate temperature variations in green settings Users more interested in personal health than energy efficiency

International comparison: Study of 33 LEED Green offices in USA (Gregory Kats at Cap.e)

The higher the environmental standard the greater the productivity and life-cycle benefits Natural light and ventilation appear to be main factors (in productivity) as long as under user control Extra construction costs (0-3%) recovered in 5-8 years through productivity rather than energy cost savings Image is important commercially (added value) Main cost benefit is in health and productivity (70%) rather than lower energy costs (11%) and reduced building maintenance (16%)

Green Schools research: Do Green Schools Pay?

Methodoloy modelled on green offices 44 green schools 2 clusters (Hampshire and Essex) 10 studied in detail

Triangulation of environmental, social and economic factors

Green schools defined against BREEAM methodology SATS results (quantative) Ofsted reports and interviews (qualitative) School data Control group schools for comparison

Similar findings to green offices

Green schools improve teaching and learning (3-4%) Less teacher turnover and sickness Better SATS results Less exclusions Community benefits Favourable Ofsted reports Key factor appears to be daylight

USA Green Schools comparison (G. Kats)

Similar results in USA where green schools (LEED) were found to provide learning benefits, as well as energy benefits Cost benefits and Life-cycle model similar to offices (Gregory Kats, www.cap-e.com) Main factor in energy and learning benefits appears to be daylight and natural conditions in classroom (Kats and Heschong Mahone Group)

Factors discouraging construction of green buildings

Higher construction costs Lack of awareness of benefits Lack of researched case studies Difficulty in developing research methodology Reliability and secrecy of data Difficulty in quantifying benefits that impress clients

Key findings

Designing for energy efficiency leads to many secondary benefits These secondary benefits bring considerable life-cycle advantages These secondary benefits (productivity, health and image) provide commercial justification for green buildings The higher the environmental standard the greater the secondary benefits but the slimmer the energy argument alone