Archinect - Features

LEED? BREEAM? WELL? Six Major Green Building Labels Explained

2024-08-14T14:00:00-04:00

When embarking on a mission to deliver a building to a high environmental and ecological standard, architects are presented with a range of accreditation systems to both guide the design process and reward the results.

While some systems, such as LEED and BREEAM, emphasize environmental and energy performance, others, such as WELL, are preoccupied with occupant health. Meanwhile, programs such as the ILFI's Living Building Challenge span typologies from schools to wineries, while others, such as Passivhaus and NGBS, have their origins in residential design.

To help designers choose which system(s) are appropriate for their projects and to further inform readers on buildings already accredited, we have rounded up six prominent green building labels from across the industry, including examples of accredited buildings previously featured on Archinect.

Australian firm Breathe Architecture is Changing the Way Residential Development is Done Down Under

2018-09-05T09:00:00-04:00

With a promise that every project would have fresh air and windows in each room, Jeremy McLeod founded the Melbourne-based practice Breathe Architecture almost twenty years ago. Since, the firm has been applying their concept of environmentally and socially sustainable urban design to a range of commercial and residential projects. More recently, McLeod and his team have begun cultivating their own housing projects, changing the model for multi-residential development in Australia. Frustrated with the way architecture was being dictated by developers, market forces, and financial structures, they started the Nightingale Housing movement to support, promote and advocate for high-quality housing that is environmentally sustainable, financially affordable, and socially inclusive.

Here, we talk with Lola Digby-Diercks, the Business Development Lead at Breathe Architecture and Nightingale, about the firm's innovative practices and the differences they are making within residential develo...

Showcase: Stadthaus M1 by Barkow Leibinger

2014-09-11T11:17:00-04:00

The subtle strength of Barkow Leibinger's Stadthaus M1 derives from its passive house standards and connection to local environment. The basic polygonal form of the overall structure, which includes a hotel and street-level shops separate from apartments, is jointed by a “pocket park” that serves as a serene connector between the complex’s private-public areas as well as a transition space to nearby streets. Located in the “sustainable model district” of Vauban in the already so-called “green city” of Freiburg, Germany, Stadthaus M1 is right at home aesthetically and ideologically.