Features to Include in New Commercial Buildings

When working with a builder to design a new commercial building, you want to ensure you know all the features that he or she might include, so you're happy with your building for many years to come. A design with updated and modern features can also mean having a building that is easy to resell when you're ready to relocate. Note a few of today's modern features that you'll want to discuss with your builder before work ever begins.

1. Green roofs

A green roof is a built-in area for growing plants and vegetation on the roof of a building. This may include trenches that control hydroponics, or automatic watering and feeding of the vegetation. Having a green roof on a building helps to keep it insulated and protect it from harsh sunlight, so this can mean lower utility bills. Green roofs or added vegetation also help to clean the air around a building, which can make such a building very valuable to a neighbourhood that is fighting pollution problems.

2. Skylights

Skylights aren't just about appearances, although they can make a building look much more attractive inside, as they let in more natural light. Skylights, however, also cut down on utility bills, as that natural light means not having to switch on overhead lights in every area of the building. You may not think that lights cost that much by way of electric bills, but this savings can add up over time, so consider adding skylights wherever you can in your new commercial building.

3. Automatic doors

Automatic doors are not just about convenience, but they also ensure that no doors are left open or propped open unnecessarily. These doors can be good for outside entryways but also for areas of the building that are not often used, such as storage. If someone were to leave a door like this open, this can mean wasting utilities on heating and cooling areas unnecessarily. Automatic doors will ensure that all unused areas of a building are always closed off, and the building is more energy efficient overall.

4. Wastewater filtration

You may think that wastewater filtration systems are large and complicated and only for a full city, but a small system can be a very economical choice for a new building. Water from sinks and drinking fountains can be recycled through this filtration system and sent back to the toilet tanks, so you don't use fresh water for flushing toilets. This means a lower water bill and less waste of this natural resource.