Building and Remodeling: Some tips

Some guidelines on building and remodeling from the Carnegie Institution Department of Global Ecology.

Land use and community

• Avoid properties where damage to fragile ecosystems cannot be avoided
• Design development to have pedestrian emphasis rather than automobile emphasis
• Provide safe access for bicyclers and pedestrians
• Provide storage area for bicycles
• Select already-developed sites for new development

Soil and water

• Replant damaged sites with native vegetation
• Use low-flow or dual-flush toilets
• Incorporate surface infiltration basins in landscapes
• Identify most degraded or ecologically damaged areas of a site
• Provide for solar access

Energy

• Utilize heliodon studies to optimize shading strategies. A well-designed building will harvest the winter sun, reject the summer sun, and collect daylight all year.
• Orient the building properly
• Use spectrally selective solar control film
• Orient the floor plan on an east-west axis for best use of daylighting
• Design an open floor plan to allow exterior daylighting to penetrate the interior
• Provide an open floor plan and openings located to catch prevailing breezes
• Use operable windows
• Reduce internal heat gains by improving lighting and appliance efficiency
• Specify low-pressure-drop cooling coils
• Use an air-side economizer
• Use efficient cooling towers
• Use night sky radiative cooling
• Use high-efficiency T-5 fluorescent lamps
• Use hot water heat distribution
• Use heat-recovery ventilation
• Use modulating photoelectric daylight sensors
• Use occupancy sensors
• Locate refrigerators and freezers away from heat sources and direct sunlight
• Achieve a whole-roof R-value of 25 or greater

Materials

• Minimize ozone-depletion potential of refrigerants in cooling systems
• Use materials with integral finish
• Determine whether varying functions can be accommodated in shared spaces
• Minimize space devoted exclusively to circulation
• Specify carpet from manufacturers who will recycle used carpet
• Choose naturally rot-resistant wood species for exposed applications
• Specify only low-mercury fluorescent lamps
• Replace up to 30% of the cement in concrete with fly ash
• Use trusses for roofs and floors
• Use salvaged wood for finish carpentry

Indoor environment

• Use glazing with a low Solar Heat Gain Coefficient
• Orient the floor plan on an east-west axis for best control of daylighting
• Use large exterior windows and high ceilings to increase daylighting
• Use skylights and/or clerestories for daylighting
• Incorporate light shelves on the south facade
• Design open floor plans to allow exterior daylight to penetrate to the interior
• Use electronic ballasts with fluorescent lighting
• Control noise with large-volume, low-velocity air systems instead of lined ducts
• Use only very low or no-VOC paints
• Avoid carpet in areas that are susceptible to moisture intrusion