Aspects of Conceptual Design Phase, Green Design

Conceptual Design Phase 1
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN PHASE OF A GREEN BUILDING PROJECT
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Conceptual Design Phase 2
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to green building.................................................................................... 3
2. Conceptual design phase and its goal........................................................................... 3
3. Important aspects of conceptual design phase................................................................5
3.1. Needs definition and vision.................................................................................... 5
3.2. Design requirements............................................................................................ 5
3.3. Alternatives....................................................................................................... 6
3.4. Constraints........................................................................................................ 7
4. Inputs of conceptual design phase................................................................................7
4.1. Problem statement............................................................................................... 8
4.2. Refined objectives................................................................................................ 8
4.3. Client needs or user requirements............................................................................8
4.4. Function........................................................................................................... 8
4.5. Constraints........................................................................................................ 9
5. Outputs of conceptual design phase............................................................................. 9
5.1. Design specifications............................................................................................ 9
5.2. Design concept or conceptual designs.......................................................................9
5.3. Cost estimates.................................................................................................... 9
5.4. Project schedule or programme..............................................................................9
5.5. Planning strategy................................................................................................ 9
6. Benefits of conceptual design phase...........................................................................10
7. Summary.............................................................................................................. 10
References.................................................................................................................. 11

Conceptual Design Phase 3
1. Introduction to green building
As global population, urbanization and industrialization continues to increase, natural
resources are continuously becoming strained. This has resulted to various life-threatening issues
to both the present-day and future generations. Some of these issues include: water, land and air
pollution; inappropriate waste disposal; excess energy and water consumption; depletion of
natural resources; and climate change. Buildings are some of the leading consumers of energy
and water in many parts of the world especially in modern cities hence they are among the
world’s biggest contributors to this mounting threat (Tathagat & Dod, 2015). As a result of this,
stakeholders in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector have developed
different approaches of reducing negative impacts of buildings on human life and the
environment. One of these approaches is the idea of green or sustainable building (Mokal, et al.,
2015).
By definition, green building refers to the practice of using resource-efficient and
environmentally responsible practices at different stages of a building’s lifecycle, including
design, construction, operation, restoration, maintenance and demolition (Kukreja, 2016). There
are various environmental, economic and social benefits realized from sustainable building.
Some of these include: minimizing wastage of resources, improving water and air quality,
conserving natural resources, protecting ecosystems and biodiversity, improving productivity of
occupants (Singh, et al., 2010), minimizing operating costs, improving health of occupants
(Allen, et al., 2015), improving quality of life and reducing pressure on local infrastructure.
2. Conceptual design phase and its goal
The journey towards realization of green building goals and objectives starts mainly
during early phases of design. This makes conceptual design phase a very crucial stage in

Conceptual Design Phase 4
successful implementation of a green building project. It is at this stage where stakeholders
discuss and identify appropriate strategies of ensuring that the environmental, economic and
social benefits of green building are attained. Therefore decisions made during various design
phases play a key role towards attainment of green building goals (Braganca, et al., 2014). This
report investigates the conceptual design phase of a green building project.
Designing a green building requires a very integrated and involving process. The
interdisciplinary project team has to work together and consult each other to ensure that all
aspects of green building are considered throughout the design stage and in subsequent phases of
the project. Conceptual design phase is the first stage of a building design process. This phase
comes after identifying project requirements, existing site conditions, energy or performance
goals of the project, suitable environmental resources that are likely to be used, passive
sustainable design approaches or strategies that should be considered when designing the
building, and specific climatic factors that should be considered in the design, among others. The
main objective of conceptual design phase is to decide on course that the green building design
process will take. For this to be done, all stakeholders involved in the project have to give their
inputs, which are then experimented iteratively so as to obtain an integrated design that best suits
the user requirements. This phase is expected to enable relevant stakeholders make advanced and
precise decisions that will determine how the entire design process shall be done. In general,
conceptual design phase is aimed at establishing specifications of the green building and identify
suitable alternatives that can be used to attain pre-determined project requirements and
objectives.