SBTM

Organization of the Manual The manual is organized in seven parts, along with an Introduction and Appendix. Part I discusses the economic and environmental significance of sustainable buildings. Parts II through VI describe the sequential design, construction, and operational process for a building project, and part VII reviews sustainable building financing issues and opportunities for local governments, as well as future green building issues and trends.

Introduction: This section contains a foreword by managing editor David Gottfried, a discussion of the role of local governments in promoting green building practices, and the manual overview.

Part I: Economics and Environment Part I outlines the financial benefits and environmental ramification of green building practices. It focuses on energy and water efficiency, waste reduction, construction costs, building maintenance and management savings, insurance and liability, employee health and productivity and building value. It also reviews the local economic development potential of green building initiatives and presents a methodology for environmental life-cycle assessment and its application to green buildings.

Part II: Pre-Design Issues This section reviews pre-design environmental issues such as design team selection, environmental guidelines, and “whole-building” design integration -- the first and essential steps in creating and implementing a successful green building project.

Part III: Site Issues Site issues chapters provide detailed information on sustainable site design, water use, and site materials. Discussed are design issues such as assessment and selection of building sites, development of landscaping that preserves natural vegetation and maintains watershed integrity, and consideration of green site materials.

Part IV: Building Design Building design is divided into three subsections that provide information on passive solar design strategies; building systems, indoor environmental quality, and building commissioning; and building materials and specifications.

Part V: The Construction Process Environmentally sound construction methods are outlined and the section discusses site management issues, indoor air quality, and resource efficiency as they relate to construction processes.

Part VI: Operations and Maintenance This section reviews environmental operations and maintenance issues including indoor environmental quality, energy efficiency, resource efficiency and renovation. Housekeeping and custodial practices that help maintain high environmental standards are also discussed.

Part VII: Issues ands Trends The first chapter in this section discusses financing options and cost issues for local governments seeking to implement green building practices. The last chapter presents green building issues such as building standards, rating systems and product certification, and green business trends such as performance contracting and product “environmental” leasing.

Appendices The Appendices contain a comprehensive listing of information resources for local government; a glossary of terms, acronyms, and abbreviations used in this manual; and biographies of the manual’s contributing writers. They also contain the PTI Advisory committee of public and private experts, and other manual reviewers, including members of the U.S. Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects, and representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.