The terms “green” and “sustainable” are being used differently a lot in the media today, but what do they actually mean? At Hughes Associates Architects we have found that the usage of the term “green” means many things to many people, therefore the ubiquity has made the term “green” relatively meaningless.
At Hughes Associates Architects, we prefer the term “High Performance” when referring to buildings that are healthy and productive to it’s users, being environmentally sensitive and allowing buildings being energy efficient to operate over their lifespan. These goals have always been central to our design philosophy, which is why we have been a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) since 2007.
The USGBC has emerged as the industry leader as a recognized high performance building organization. They have a quantifiable way to measure the level of performance of buildings through their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building rating system.
The 5 key areas LEED focuses on are:
- Sustainable Sites
- Water Efficiency
- Energy and Atmosphere
- Materials and Resources
- Indoor Environmental Quality
By certifying a building’s ability to meet high standards in the 5 key areas, the LEED system assures building owners, users, tenants, employees and developers of the sustainability, environmental friendliness and user health benefits of their building. Now, building “green” has a standard.
Hughes Associates Architects has designed our first office building pursuing LEED certification in Botetourt County. This experience enables us to provide you with the expertise you need to make informed decisions about your high performance building planning and design.
Contact Us to learn more about our High Performance Green Design projects. |
