查看文章

The concept of a `green` building is defined as a building that works with, rather than in spite of, the local climate to minimize fossil fuel consumption. It minimizes water consumption and waste. It uses construction materials that have a long life, are non-toxic, and which require minimum energy to produce, deliver to the building site and install. It is sufficiently flexible to permit successive changes without major construction work. With this definition as the background, this paper concentrates on the reduction of fossil fuel energy consumption in commercial buildings, and the various means available to achieve it, such as natural ventilation, thermal storage, control of solar gain, maximizing the use of daylight for illumination, and passive and active solar energy collection. Also discussed are some of the reasons why some buildings fail to satisfy owners and occupants. A strategy involving performance-based contracting, elements of value engineering and occupant education to assure energy efficiency and owner/occupants satisfaction is presented. 15 refs.