White Paper Recommends 22 Ways Building Designers and Contractors Can Fight Climate Change

Green Buildings + Climate Change,” a 64-page White Paper from Building Design+Construction magazine (http://www.bdcnetwork.com), offers 22 action items that architects, building engineers, contractors, homebuilders, building owners, and real estate developers can take to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Buildings account for about 70% of electricity use, about 40% of primary energy consumption, and 40% of carbon emissions in developed countries. In the U.S., buildings consume more total energy than any other sector—more than industry, more than cars and trucks, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Yet much can be done to reduce the impact of buildings and homes on the environment. These include “key mitigation technologies and practices currently commercially available,” such as efficient lighting and daylighting, more-efficient electrical appliances and heating/cooling systems, improved insulation, and passive and active solar systems for heating buildings and homes, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the key international authority on climate change.

In addition to the actions suggested by the U.N. panel, the White Paper recommends numerous other steps building professionals can take to reduce carbon emissions, such as:

* Implementing energy-efficient improvements to existing buildings and homes, which account for 98% of buildings in use in any single year.
* Encouraging transit-oriented development, mixed use projects, and more compact site planning, to reduce car miles traveled.
* Paying greater attention to special threats to waterfront developments and buildings in hurricane zones, which could be severely impacted by rising sea levels.

The White Paper also presents the results of an exclusive survey of 953 U.S. design and construction professionals on their opinions about climate change. Among the findings:

* A majority of respondents (56%) said their clients would accept a 5% cost premium for building projects that would effectively address climate change.
* Nearly three-fourths of respondents (72%) said the U.S. should adhere to binding agreements aimed at mitigating climate change, such as the Kyoto Protocol.

The White Paper was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. General Services Administration, the Construction Specifications Institute, the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association, Southern California Edison, building materials producers Holcim and Lafarge, and printing manufacturer Océ.