In my opinion, building sustainability should meet the Triple Bottom Line on People (social benefits), Planet ( Environmental benefits) and Profits (Economic benefits).
- Social Benefits:
- Better indoor environmental quality
- Healthier environment
- no extra burdens on local infrastructure
- Environmental Benefits:
- Protect wildlife
- No air and water pollution
- No extra waste production
- prevent natural resources depletion
- Economic Benefits
- Lower operating and maintenance costs
- higher employee productivity
- Lower life cycle costs
As for an engineer, in designing sustainable buildings, there are a lot of design factors we need to consider about.
- a well-designed HVAC system
- meet the minimum requirement of human’s comfortability, like humidity, temperature, etc.
- the right type of heating source
- the right type of cooling source
- A battery system
- Solar Panel system
- fulfil the requirement of internal load, building load, heating and cooling load
- Natural lighting
- Using natural lighting as the main source of lighting in the day and main source of heating is the most sustainable way in the building design
