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• Constructing and operating buildings accounts for roughly 1/3 of worldwide energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions
• In the United States, building construction and operation consumes 1/3 or more of the total energy.
• 70% of electricity is consumed by building construction and operation in the US.
• 12% of the potable water is consumed by building construction and operation in the US.
• 30% of raw materials are consumed by building construction and operation in the US.
• Building construction and operation generates 1/3 of all solid waste in the US.
• Building construction and operation emits significant quantities of air pollutants in the US.
• U.S. building construction and operation account for as much as 45 percent of the country's carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) emissions.

Sustainability

• Defined as "meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (1987 United Nations, Our Common Future)
• Building sustainably involves:
• Reducing the depletion of fossil fuels
• Preserving arable land
• Protecting forests and natural ecosystems
• Protecting water resources
• Minimizing air pollution
• Minimizing materials consumption and waste
• Maximizing the healthfulness of the interior building environment
• Sustainable building design and construction, or green building, aspire to minimize environmental harms and adverse health impacts.
• The optimum goal with green building is to do no harm or even reverse previous harm.
• Bullitt Center in Seattle generates more electricity than it consumes.
• It was the first building to achieve Living Building Certification.

Sustainable Buildings

• Integrated design process (IDP) is an interdisciplinary, holistic approach to achieving sustainable buildings.
• IDP prioritizes sustainability goals.
• IDP emphasizes collaborative processes.
• IDP breaks down traditional discipline boundaries.
• IDP maximizes synergies between systems.
• Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design or LEED is a voluntary program developed by U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), an independent, private, not-for-profit organization.
• LEED is the most broadly implemented green building program in North America.
• LEED for New Construction and Renovation (LEED NC) addresses:
• Location and transportation
• Sustainable Sites
• Water Efficiency
• Energy and Atmosphere
• Materials and Resources
• Indoor Environmental Quality
• Innovation
• Regional priority
• LEED also includes rating systems for existing buildings, commercial interiors, homes, and neighborhood developments.

LEED Rating Levels

• Platinum: 80-110 points
• Gold: 60-79 points
• Silver: 50-59 points
• Certified: 40-49 points

Living Building Challenge

• International Living Future Institute's Living Building Challenge, is based on 7 petals:
• Place
• Water
• Energy
• Health & Happiness
• Materials
• Equity
• Beauty
• Living Certified buildings requirements:
• Net positive water: Obtain 100% of fresh water from precipitation or closed loop systems
• Net positive energy: Generate more than 100% of energy from on-site renewable sources (annualized)
• Net zero carbon: Mitigate embodied carbon with purchased offsets

Describing Sustainable Materials

• Product data sheets provide product information self-reported by the material manufacturer.
• Environmental labels (eco-labels) provide third-party, independent environmental product assessments.
• Product disclosures neutrally describe product environmental attributes in standard formats, but without any rating.
• Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)
• Describe the full life-cycle environmental impacts of building materials, from materials extraction to end of life.
• Includes Information on energy consumption, contribution to global warming, fresh water and other materials consumption, air and water pollution impacts, and material waste generation
• Environmental Building Declarations (EBDs) provide same kind of life-cycle environmental impacts disclosure for whole buildings.
• By applying consistent methodologies, EPDs and EBDs allow meaningful comparisons of environmental impacts between different products or different building designs.
• Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)
• Defined as the comprehensive accounting of environmental impacts of materials and products throughout the product life cycle.
• LCA is used to produce EPDs and EBDs.
  • Cradle-to-grave analysis begins with extraction, continues through processing, construction, and use, and finishes with end-of-life disposal or reuse.
  • Cradle-to-gate analysis ends when material leaves factory, excluding transportation to construction site, installation, use, and end-of-life.
• Health Product Declarations:
• Provide information about material ingredients with associated human health hazards
• Can include persistent toxic compounds, carcinogens, respiratory irritants, and neurotoxins
• Other Sustainable Attributes address:
• Recycled materials divert waste from incinerators or landfills.
• Bio-based materials, derived from agricultural or animal processes that can be biodegradable and carbon neutral.
• Rapidly renewable materials avoid depletion of nonrenewable resources.
• Regional materials reduce transportation costs and contribute to local economies.
• Sustainable buildings exhibit, on average, a 25%-35% improvement in energy consumption over traditional buildings.
• Building commissioning (Cx) is the process of defining building performance objectives and ensuring these objectives are achieved in the finished building.
• Integrated, whole-building Cx is a necessary part of sustainable design and construction, to ensure that finished buildings meet the stated goals for energy performance and other criteria.

The Design Professional

• The architect, engineer, and others on the design team translate the owner's building ideas and needs into a complete design.
• Construction documents consist of the graphic construction drawings and the written specifications describe the building to be built.

Environmental and Land Use Regulations

• Environmental impact assesments address potential impacts on:
• Water resources, natural habitats, protected species, air and water pollution
• Municipal water and sewer systems, transportation systems
• Urban open space, community facilities, neighborhood character, etc.
• Land use (zoning) regulations address:
• Allowed activity types, such as industrial, commercial, residential
• Extent of land that may be covered by buildings
• Distance from buildings to adjacent properties
• Parking
• Building heights
• Fire district requirements, etc.

Building Codes

• Regulate life safety and health through:
• Fire safety
• Emergency egress
• Construction quality
• Structural integrity
• Durability
• Livability
• Energy conservation
• Health codes
• Electrical/mechanical codes
• Fire codes (building operations)
• Accessibility for physically handicapped
• Model Codes are standardized codes, adopted and put into legal effect by local jurisdictions.
• The National Building Code of Canada is a building code used in Canada.
• The International Building Code (IBC) and the International Residential Code (IRC) are building codes used in the U.S.
• IBC and IRC are the models for most U.S. local building codes.
• IRC covers:
• One- and two-family homes
• Townhouses
• Buildings with 3 stories maximum height
• IBC covers all buildings not covered by the IRC.
• IBC defines Occupancies, activities within the building, that reflect differing degrees of life and fire safety hazard.
• A is Assembly
• B is Business
• E is Educational
• F is Factory
• H is High hazard
• I is Institutional
• M is Mercantile
• R is Residential
• S is Storage
• U is Utility
• Construction Types define building systems with varying degrees of resistance to fire.
• Type I is most resistant
• Type II
• Type III
• Type IV
• Type V is least resistant
• Combustibility
• Type I and II: noncombustible materials only (steel, concrete, masonry)
• Type III and IV: noncombustible exterior walls and combustible (wood) interior materials
• Type V: fully combustible
• Fire Resistance or endurance:
• Type I: 2-3 hours
• Type II: 0-1 hour
• Type III: 0-1 hour
• Type IV: Heavy Timber, Mass Timber, 0-3 hours
• Type V: 0-1 hour
• Allowable building height and area is determined together by Occupancy and Construction Type.
• Occupancies with greater occupancy hazard are limited to smaller buildings.
• Construction Types that are more resistant to fire allow bigger buildings.
• Allowable height and area are also adjusted for:
• Automatic fire sprinklers
• Better fire fighter access around building
• Access Regulations ensure equal access to facilities for persons with disabilities.
• Building code accessibility requirements, and federal civil rights laws, such as Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Housing Act, regulate Access Regulations.
• Construction Standards:
• Define good practice
• Ensure minimum quality
• Encourage standardization and efficiency in methods

Code and Standards Organizations

• Independent consensus organizations such as ASTM International: Materials and methods standards
• Government funded agencies like U.S. Department of Commerce and National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST)
• Trade and professional organizations such as American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) are other important groups.

Organizing Construction Information

• MasterFormat is a numbering system for the organization of construction materials and systems, and was created to make construction specs easier.
• MasterFormat was developed by Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and Construction Specifications Canada (CSC).
• MasterFormat utilizes 50 major Divisions.
• Sections within Divisions define the work of individual trades or suppliers
• MasterFormat is used to:
• Organize construction specifications, the written portion of construction documents
• Organize construction cost data
• Organize trade and technical literature
• Systematize notes on construction drawings
• CSI/CSC UniFormat:
• Classifies building elements by functional groups, such as substructure, shell, interiors, services.
• UniFormat Level 1 categories:
• A is Substructure
• B is Shell
• C is Interiors
• D is Services
• E is Equipment and Furnishings
• F is Special Construction and Demolition
• G is Building Sitework
• Z is General
• UniFormat is used for:
• Early stage design and pricing
• Performance specification of systems
• Organization of construction data in building information models
• OmniClass
• A broadly flexible system for organizing construction information according to any number of schemes, such as function, form, elements, work results, phases, or properties.
• Includes tables for Spaces by Function, Elements (like Uniformat), Work Results (like MasterFormat), Products, Phases, Services, Tools, Materials, and Properties.
• Information standards matter because of increasing digital modeling, the complexity of information, the sharing of data between disciplines, and extending data usage beyond the construction phase.

Construction Services

• Allocation of responsibilities and risks among major parties:
• The design team includes architects, engineers, and other consultants.
• The construction team includes the General contractor, subcontractors, and suppliers.
• The owner group includes the Developer/owner, financers, and user groups.

Project Delivery Methods:

• Design/Bid/Build:
  • The owner hires separate design and construction teams.
  • Separate entities provide checks and balances.
  • It can be difficult to integrate construction expertise into the design.
• Design/Build
  • The owner hires a a single design and construction entity.
  • This fosters coordination between A/E and GC.
  • There is a single point of accountability for the owner.
  • There are fewer checks and balances.
• Construction Management
  • The owner hires independent CM management to oversee design and construction services provided by multiple entities.
  • Construction expertise is available to the owner throughout the project.
  • Construction Management is most commonly associated with large scale, complex projects.
• CM at risk: Aspects of construction manager and general contractor
• Turnkey construction: Single entity provides financing as well as construction services
• Single-purpose entity: combines owner, design, and construction teams into one legal entity

Paying for Construction Services

• Fixed fee (lump sum)
  • The owner pays an agreed, fixed amount for work to be performed.
  • GC assumes most risk or potential reward for unplanned construction costs or savings.
  • Best suited to projects where scope of work is well defined before construction starts.
• Cost Plus a Fee:
• The owner pays GC's direct costs plus an added fee.
• The owner assumes more cost risk/savings reward potential.
• A Cost Plus a Fee arrangement is well suited to projects where scope is not fully defined when construction begins.
• Adding a guaranteed maximum price (GMAX, GMP) limits the maximum cost and shifts some cost risk back toward the contractor.
• Other types of risk allocation:
  • Incentive provisions financially reward a contractor for timely completion of cost savings.
  • Surety bonds, purchased by owner, protect against contractor default.
• Understanding the interdependencies in time and space between parts of the building is essential to planning the construction project.
• Sequential Construction
• Each major phase begins only after the preceding phase is complete.
• Design is completed before construction begins.
• Phased Construction
• Design and construction phases overlap.
• Aim is to reduce total project duration.
• Sequential construction is simpler to manage.
• Phased construction requires closer coordination between design and construction activities.
• Phased construction can introduce additional risks if elements built early come into conflict with later design decisions.
• Sequential construction is traditionally associated with design/bid/build construction.
• Phased construction is most naturally suited to design/build and construction management project delivery, where construction expertise is available during the design phases of the project.
• Gantt Chart
• Represents project tasks or phases on a horizontal timeline
• Provides an easy to understand picture of a project schedule and relationships between phases.
• Critical Path Method (CPM)
• Analyzes task dependencies
• Critical path is the sequence of tasks that determines the least amount of time in which a project can be completed
• The general contractor:
• Oversees construction
• Controls the project site
• Manages trades and suppliers
• Coordinates communications between construction team and owner, designer
• Files construction permits, securing the project site, providing temporary power and water, setting up office trailers and support facilities, providing insurance coverage for the work in progress, managing personnel on site, maintaining a safe work environment, stockpiling materials, performing testing and quality control, providing site surveying and engineering, and arranging for cranes and other construction machinery.
• Provides temporary structures and weather protection; disposes or recycles construction waste; solicits the work of subtrades and coordinating their efforts; submits product samples and technical information to the design team for review; maintains accurate records of the construction as it proceeds; monitors costs and schedules; manages changes to the work; protects completed work.
• Trends in the Delivery of Design and Construction Services emphasizes efforts like fostering collaboration between owner/contractor/designer entities, integrated project delivery, improving productivity via lean construction and vertical integration of services, and advances in information technology (building information modeling or BIM, advanced computation, etc.).