These days, commercial real estate conferences and industry gatherings boast a healthy representation of breakout sessions, products and services promoting environmental responsibility and the latest in green building trends…and that’s a good thing. But, talking about going green and actually taking steps to transform a building are quite different.

This is the third article delineating emerging sustainable regulations as defined in the fourth edition public draft of the Standard 189.1P Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings.  The first two articles, illustrated in previous U.S. Green Building Council North Texas Chapter digital magazine editions, described elements from energy and sustainable sites. This brief overview article concentrates upon information as it relates to the materials, resources, and indoor environment air quality portions of the regulation.

As introduced in the August Edition of the North Texas Chapter digital magazine, the fourth edition public draft of the Standard 189.1P Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings was released in September anticipating a publish date in January 2010.  The standard is a joint partnership between the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) that is designed to significantly move forward sustainable concepts and construction by providing a code-enforceable standard for green buildings that may be adopted by jurisdictions, agencies, clients, rating systems, and regulatory entities.

Connecting people to nature is paramount for sustainable excellence.

Many sustainable approaches to site design are based, rightly so, on the tangible efforts of conserving and protecting resources.  Restoring native habitats and preserving existing ecosystems are fundamental foundations designed to ensure man’s touch on the land is as light as possible.  This approach can generally be easily documented for a client, often minimizing a designers influence over site planning to a simple matter of going through the motions to achieve a quantifiable end.  However, perhaps it’s only fitting within the discussion of a sustainable landscape that we reflect on the spiritual and intrinsic values of air, water, and light, and their place not only within the architecture, but in their expression within the fabric of the surrounding site.