In part one of “Watch Out for These Top Green Building Trends,” we revealed that reducing energy consumption and reducing water consumption tops the list as most important green building trends. Other green commercial building trends include LEED ratings, cool and green roofs, water conservation technologies and WELL Building Standard initiatives.
In the United States, green building is projected to account for more than half of all commercial and institutional construction. Thus, as building owners seek to create a sustainable, energy-efficient environment, KMB seeks to provide the sustainable engineering solutions to make it happen. Below are four more trends to be on the look-out for this year.
Retrofit
Retrofitting an existing building can oftentimes be more cost-effective than building a new facility. Many owners are choosing to forgo ground-up development, electing instead to adapt and reuse existing commercial buildings. Retrofitting existing buildings is not only more cost-effective, but also reduces energy consumption of the heating, cooling, and lighting buildings.
As the growth of retrofit continues, so will the development of new technologies including window design, variable refrigerant flow and volume (VRF and VRV) systems for HVAC, metering and sub-metering systems tied to cloud-based data analysis, visualization platforms and more.
Efficient Building Skins
Architects are making more and more strategic choices with the outside layers of their buildings including the windows. Along with daylighting and ventilation, you’re going to be seeing more of the integration of windows that can also adapt to block — or admit — light and heat, which help to manage the building’s energy consumption.
Low-VOC Building Designs
Considering the general health and safety of all building occupants, one trend in green building design is the shift toward the use of non-VOC paints, flooring materials and other kinds of low-chemical construction items. Volatile chemicals from the past are being phased out of manufactured construction products to comply with the growing demand for safer, more organic materials that do not release caustic chemical products.
Demographic Influence
One demographic affecting commercial building construction trends are the Millennials (18-34). Because of the way that this specific group lives, works…and gets around. Millennials are forgoing cars opting for more environmentally friendly, alternative modes to travel. Yes, transportation is generational. In fact, motorists over the age of 75 have registered “six times as many new cars as those 18 to 24.” What does this mean for construction? For one, we will see far fewer parking garage projects and new construction will start considering how parking lots can be turned into some other usable space for the near future. This also means more demand for construction of public transit infrastructure and ride share lots.
KMB Green Commercial Building Design
All of these sustainable design trends, along with the growing use of solar energy, are meant to push the boundaries of what’s possible in green commercial building designs. Energy and resource efficient, eco- friendly designs are beneficial to the community and environment, socially responsible and thus well received, and often the most economical and best operational choice.
Contact us to learn more today!