Whole Building Design for Commercial Buildings
Use of daylighting in a retail environment substantially reduces the electric lighting load, minimizes the cooling loads, and requires smaller cooling systems. This type of integrated design is necessary to achieve maximum energy savings. Photo courtesy of NREL.
Whole building commercial design considers all components and subsystems during the initial design phase and is the most important step in achieving net-zero energy buildings. On this page you'll learn more about whole building commercial design and find related information.
Integrated Design Is Critical
Whole building design takes into consideration site, energy, materials, indoor air quality, acoustics, and natural resources. The design team must be fully integrated early in the process to address how these elements work together. The team should include architects, engineers, building occupants and owners, and specialists in areas such as indoor air quality, materials, and energy use.
Integrated building design changes the way architects, engineers, and project teams design buildings and leads to much higher energy performance. To be successful, project teams must:
- Set specific and measurable energy goals
- Develop strategies to meet the goals by planning from the top down and evaluating from the bottom up
- Create a structure that encourages communication among team members
- Make each team member accountable for successfully implementing the strategies
- Evaluate progress toward the goal frequently.
Benefits
Compared to conventional buildings, whole building design reduces the amount of energy required to operate a building by incorporating energy-saving technologies. Benefits include:
- Reduced energy use by 50% or more
- Decreased maintenance and capital costs
- Less environmental impact
- Increased occupant comfort and health
- Improved employee productivity.
Invest Design Savings into Energy Efficiency
Architects, engineers, and project teams can make design decisions that reduce the financial impact of energy-saving technologies. For example, siting a building to maximize daylighting reduces the cost of lighting for the lifetime of the building. In addition, optimizing building envelope design will reduce heating and cooling costs. Savings from these design strategies can then be invested in higher quality windows or controls, which will also reduce energy use.
The High Performance Buildings Database provides business cases for projects across the United States and around the world. The energy, economic, and environmental performance of high-performance buildings is substantially better than standard practice.
Related Links
For more information about whole building design practices and technologies, visit:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory Sustainable Design Guide – Chapter 2
- Whole Building Design R&D
- Charrette
- Advanced Energy Design Guides