Over the past several years, a movement has begun to encourage developers, architects, and builders to reduce the environmental impact of building projects. This movement has commonly become known as "building green."

Building green involves implementing a loosely defined collection of land use strategies, building design, and construction strategies that are designed to protect the environment, reduce energy consumption, and promote occupant health.

Definition of Green Design

Design and construction practices that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environment and occupants are called "green design." Often called "sustainable design," these practices cover four broad areas:

Sustainable Site Design

1. Safeguarding water and water efficiency
2. Energy efficiency and renewable energy
3. Conservation of materials and resources
4. Indoor environmental quality

The goal of green design is to encourage construction of high-performance buildings that improve our local and global communities.

U.S. Green Building Council

A coalition of leaders from across the building industry have formed the U.S. Green Building Council www.usgbc.org. The Council's goal is to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to work. For a good explanation of green building and sustainability, see the Building Design & Construction (November 2003) special report on the green building movement, including the "White Paper on Sustainability."

Another good Web site for information on building green is www.buildinggreen.com. This site has many links to other sites and also offers Green Spec, which is a detailed list of environmentally sound building products.

Butler Products as Green Building Products.

The following points explain how ButlerŪ products contribute to green building:

• Products That Reduce Material Use--Through extensive testing and computer modeling, all Butler projects are designed to minimize the amount of steel used to meet exact specifications. This compares favorably to other steel or wood structures that use and often underutilize predefined shapes or sections. The lighter-weight structure also reduces the size of footings and foundations, reducing the concrete and steel used. Minimizing the steel and concrete used in a building conserves our natural resources.
• Salvaged/Recycled Products--Nearly all of the steel used to make the primary frames is made from recycled scrap generated both from consumer and industrial users. On a weighted average, this accounts for roughly half of the steel used in a typical building.
• Reusable or Recyclable Materials--ButlerŪ metal buildings can be relocated and reused, making them adaptable to different end uses and extending their usable life. Steel from buildings can also be 100 percent recycled and used for new buildings or a variety of other projects.
• Life-cycle--Many Butler products carry a 25-year warranty on roof and wall panels and require minimal maintenance to last much longer. Steel is naturally termite and rodent resistant and requires no pesticides or treatment for protection. And properly protected primary and secondary framing members can last indefinitely.
• Paint Finishes--Butler uses only structural finishes that meet or exceed current EPA regulations and also uses low-VOC paints, caulks, and adhesives. Metal building products do not release pollutants like certain wood products or built-up roof products.
• Regional Shipping--Butler's six regional fabrication plants assure that production is close to most building sites, reducing transportation energy costs.
• Energy Efficient--Butler offers a wide variety of insulation systems and an insulation spacer block that significantly improves the in-place performance of the roof insulation. To assure performance, Butler conducted tests in lieu of using empirical formulas. We offer insulation systems that can achieve R-40 or more when required.
• Heat-Island Effect--Butler uses cool metal roofs (cool roofs) to reduce the heat-island effect, minimizing the impact buildings have on microclimate and human and wildlife habitat.