Balancing Security/Safety and Sustainability Objectives

This Resource Page of the Whole Buildings Design Guide aims to provide designers with an understanding of the interaction between security/safety and sustainability objectives by emphasizing the 'whole building' or integrated design process, identifying areas of synergy and potential conflicts between sustainable and security/safety approaches, and highlighting sustainability opportunities within certain security/safety strategies. On the surface, it may appear that secure/safe design has little relationship to sustainable design. Yet, security and safety measures, such as those for anti-terrorism, must be considered within a total project context, including impacts on occupants and the environment, regardless of the level of protection deemed appropriate. Further, today's security design is based on a multi-hazard approach, that is, looking at the impact of all hazards on a project: natural, criminal, terrorist, and accidental. This Resource Page contains case studies of the Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse in Denver and the California Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento.