The buildings we inhabit provide a great

What is Green Design?

opportunity to minimize the impact of
Green design is a comprehensive human activity on the environment
process intended to minimize the while improving our own quality of life at
designed infrastructure’s environmental the same time. Green building design
impact and energy consumption. brings many important benefits,
Green design principles incorporate including:
material selection and construction
●​ Enhanced health and safety:
options that slow down natural resource
Green buildings use materials
depletion. that are friendly to the
environment and people. That
The concept of ecologically sound or means avoiding building
“green” architecture originated in the materials that contain harmful
byproducts and toxins. For
1960s, and the world’s first green
workers, green designs also
building standard was introduced in the promote mental and physical

UK in 1990. Green designs consider the well-being by incorporating

natural lighting, green spaces,
enormous number of natural resources
and ergonomic layouts.
and waste that go into constructing and ●​ Reduced waste: Green designs
minimize waste from the design
operating buildings, factories, stadiums,
phase throughout the building’s
and other structures. Reversing these life. This begins with renewable,
trends requires an approach that recycled, and reused raw
materials for construction and
includes architecture, landscaping, and
continues with features like water
urban planning. purification systems to reduce
water consumption and
high-efficiency insulation to
Benefits of Green Building Design
 minimize heating and air
conditioning waste.
●​ Reduced operational costs:
Reduced material and utility
expenses contribute to the
overall reduction in operational
expenses, which includes building
maintenance, repairs, and waste Green Design Principles
management. The average
Green building design concepts may
operating cost savings in the first
year for new green buildings is seem intuitive, but designers and
-10.5%.
architects need to follow a set of
●​ Increased efficiency: Renewable
building materials and energy guiding principles to optimize their

sources used for green results. These principles fit into several
construction design provide a
overall categories that summarize the
win-win by reducing
environmental impact and CO2 goals and objectives of green design.
emissions while making the
building more energy-efficient Design
and cost-effective. Upfront costs
Many green design objectives stem
for design elements like solar
panels and green roofs are from the design and architecture of the
quickly recovered through
building itself. This includes incorporating
savings on energy over time.
concepts like biophilic design, which

Top Green Design Principles focuses on connecting building

occupants to nature, and innovative

multi-purpose areas, which reduce

space and resource consumption.

Overall design considerations include

basic ventilation, lighting, and window

installation options, which support other consumption, energy efficiency is

green design principles. another fundamental pillar of green

design architecture. Opportunities to

Land use
reduce energy consumption through
Minimized land use is one obvious green green principles come from smart
objective, but land use considerations lighting and heating systems,
also include reduced interference with energy-efficient windows, and the
native plants and wildlife, effective integration of renewable energy sources
stormwater runoff, transportation to and like solar and wind power into the
from the location, parking, and building design.
sustainable landscaping possibilities that

further minimize the environmental Water conservation

impact. With more people, agriculture, and

buildings around the world, water is

Materials
becoming an increasingly scarce
Green design principles for material resource. Along with water purification
selection begin with maximizing the use systems to encourage reuse, green
of recycled and reusable building principles call for the use of more
materials during construction. This key water-efficient fixtures, faucets, and
design principle also extends to things plumbing to prevent water from being
like low-impact concrete production, wasted.
sustainable sourcing of lumber products,

and toxin-free insulation materials. Waste reduction

By continually seeking out new ways to

Energy performance
minimize waste in everything from
With the operation of buildings building materials and construction
responsible for 30% of all global energy processes to electricity and water
consumption, green designers can build structures can also be eco-friendly and

efficiency into new structures from the energy efficient.

ground up, rather than asking

Pixel Building (Australia)
occupants or workers to make dramatic

changes to their habits.

Indoor environmental quality

The use of green design architecture will

expand if the indoor environmental

quality (IEQ) of new buildings continues Pixel Building, Australia

to support occupant health, safety, and
This visually stunning office building in
productivity to increase the demand for
Melbourne, Australia, illustrates how a
these practices. Improved air quality,
design concept can deliver on multiple
natural light, and the use of green
green fronts. The unique panels lining all
spaces can make these modern
surfaces of the building provide natural
buildings more conducive to overall
shade to cool occupants and then help
comfort, health, and stress reduction.
capture rainwater to improve efficiency

in other areas. Vertical wind turbines on

Green Design Examples
the roof blend in with the unique
Impressive green design examples building appearance while helping to
appear each year, with new projects make the Pixel building the first
building on previous designers’ ideas. carbon-neutral office building in
Recent achievements in green building Australia.
design have shown us how the world’s

most unique and visually appealing

Ayedemi Floating School (Nigeria)

VIP Structures Headquarters, New York

Ayedemi Floating School, Nigeria
VIP Structures’ new office headquarters
Architect Kunlé Ayedemi more than
in Syracuse, New York, is one of the best
rose to the challenge when it came
examples of green design in the United
time to design and build a sustainable
States. Occupation-censored lights that
school in one of the most flood-prone
turn off when spaces are empty, gray
areas of Africa. The flexible and buoyant
water recycling, radiant floors, and
foundation made use of recycled
multi-control HVAC show the impact
plastic barrels, while the structure itself
technology is now having on green
leveraged locally sourced wood and
design practices. The building also
bamboo. Despite the constraints of the
emphasizes clean indoor air and inviting
rain-soaked terrain, solar panels were
break spaces to promote occupant
also incorporated to provide a reliable
health and productivity.
off-grid energy supply.

VIP Structures Headquarters (New York) How to Achieve Green Designs

 well to reuse when buildings are
reconfigured. If you want to learn
more about this topic, check out
our guide on precast concrete.
●​ Use alternative energy sources:
Our green design examples and
many other projects around the
world have built sustainable
Adhering to basic green design
energy sources like wind and
principles provides a pathway to solar into the infrastructure. This
early focus makes planning for
success, but a few key concepts and
and achieving net zero or
practices can ensure the design is carbon-neutral status possible
sustainable, efficient, and functional from day one. Using carbon
estimating software is a great
throughout its lifespan.
way of measuring the success of
these initiatives and finding
●​ Use sustainable materials: Green
improvements.
building materials include those
●​ Implement a sustainable mindset:
that can be (or already have
Green building design concepts
been) reused or recycled, but
must be implemented into all
they also include materials like
construction project phases to be
bamboo and cork that can be
successful. Designers should
grown and harvested with little
incorporate the underlying goals
environmental impact.
of environmental responsibility,
●​ Rely on prefabrication: Off-site
resource conservation, and
construction (prefabrication) is
waste reduction into every
performed in climate-controlled
decision. Implementing a
factories that make it easier to
construction change
incorporate sustainable materials.
management plan is a great way
During construction,
to implement green principles at
prefabrication reduces trips to
an organizational level.
and from the job site and speeds
●​ Use professional construction
up project times to reduce
software: Turning green designs
emissions. Standard prefabbed
into reality requires accurate
modules also lend themselves
 material estimates, ongoing principles in mind, building on the
collaboration, and attention to
efficiency and technology of successful
detail. Professional construction
software streamlines these new projects.

processes through cloud-based

tracking, reporting, and In the context of planning architecture,

communication. RIB CostX, our collaboration and teamwork play a

estimating and BIM takeoff critical role in applying standards,

software, helps designers, clients, considerations, techniques, and

and builders perform accurate devices.

quantity takeoffs and estimates

from 3D BIM models and other
digital formats. A carbon
1. Application of Standards
estimating module helps green
designers assess their projects by through Collaboration
calculating the embodied
Standards in architecture often refer to
carbon and total carbon output.
building codes, safety regulations,
environmental standards, and design
In Conclusion principles. In a team environment, these
are applied through:
As housing, office buildings, and

factories expand their footprint to ●​ Cross-disciplinary input: Structural

engineers, architects, MEP
accommodate more occupants, green
consultants, and sustainability
building design is quickly becoming experts collaboratively ensure
compliance with all applicable
necessary. Innovative new structures
standards (e.g., fire safety, ADA,
and materials make relying on manual LEED).​
construction management and
●​ Peer review: Design proposals are
estimating practices impossible. The
reviewed within teams to identify
advanced takeoff, estimation, and inconsistencies or
reporting capabilities of RIB CostX have non-compliance.​

been developed with green design

 ●​ Standardization meetings: Teams considerations by drawing from
discuss how to uniformly apply team expertise.​
design and construction
standards across projects.​ ●​ Collaborative design charrettes
quickly generate and evaluate
design solutions in response to
complex project requirements.​

2. Consideration of Multiple
Factors in Team Settings

Good architecture integrates numerous 3. Techniques Used in a

considerations, including: Team-Oriented Planning Process
●​ User needs (functionality,
Architectural techniques are improved
accessibility)​
through collaboration, including:

●​ Site and environmental factors ●​ Concept development

(climate, orientation, techniques (e.g., brainstorming
topography)​ sessions, sketch modeling)​

●​ Cultural and contextual ●​ Site analysis techniques (e.g.,

relevance​ SWOT analysis, environmental
scans)​
●​ Budget and sustainability​
●​ Digital modeling and BIM
collaboration – where multiple
In collaborative settings:
disciplines work simultaneously in
platforms like Revit or ArchiCAD.​
●​ Stakeholder workshops are held
to gather diverse perspectives
●​ Iterative prototyping – testing
(clients, community members,
design options using physical
planners).​
models or digital simulations
created and improved with team
●​ Integrated design processes help
feedback.​
balance aesthetic, functional,
and environmental
 In planning architecture, collaboration
transforms individual expertise into a
4. Devices and Tools Utilized holistic, informed, and compliant design
process. Through:
Collaboratively
●​ Applying standards collectively,​
These are the physical or digital tools
that facilitate teamwork in architectural
●​ Considering multiple
planning:
perspectives,​
●​ Building Information Modeling
(BIM): Centralized design models ●​ Using team-based techniques,
that allow architects, engineers, and​
and contractors to collaborate in
real-time.​ ●​ Leveraging shared tools and
devices,​
●​ Collaborative project
management platforms (e.g.,
teams can produce architectural plans
Trello, Asana, or Miro) to organize
that are innovative, efficient, and
tasks and track progress.​
aligned with both regulatory and client
expectations.
●​ VR/AR devices: Used for
immersive presentations and
design reviews, allowing teams
and clients to “walk through” a
space virtually.​

●​ Cloud-based storage and sharing

tools (Google Drive, Autodesk
Construction Cloud) to ensure
accessibility of project data.​

Summary: How It All Comes

Together