Site Map
The graphic below illustrates the layout and structure of information within the Whole Building Design Guide. Click on any section title to jump to the list of pages contained within that section.
Design Guidance
Design Objectives
- Accessible
- Aesthetics
- Cost-Effective
- Functional/Operational
- Historic Preservation
- Productive
- Secure/Safe
- Sustainable
Building Types
- Ammunition and Explosive Storage Magazines
- Archives and Record Storage Building
- Armories
- Aviation
- Community Services
- Educational Facilities
- Federal Courthouse
- Health Care Facilities
- Land Port of Entry
- Libraries
- Office Building
- Parking Facilities
- Research Facilities
- Unaccompanied Personnel Housing (Barracks)
- Warehouse
Space Types
- Atrium
- Auditorium
- Automated Data Processing: Mainframe
- Automated Data Processing: PC System
- Child Care
- Clinic / Health Unit
- Conference / Classroom
- Courthouse: Courtroom
- Courthouse: Enhanced Office
- Courthouse: Judicial Chamber
- Firing Range
- Food Service
- General Storage
- Hearing Room
- Joint Use Retail
- Laboratory: Dry
- Laboratory: Wet
- Library
- Light Industrial
- Loading Dock
- Lobby
- Mail Center
- Office
- Parking: Basement
- Parking: Outside/Structured
- Parking: Surface
- Physical Fitness (Exercise Room)
- Place of Worship
- Plaza
- Private Toilet
- Warehouse
Design Disciplines
- Architecture
- Architectural Programming
- Commissioning Authority
- Cost Estimating
- Electrical Engineering
- Fire Protection Engineering
- HVAC and Refrigerating Engineering
- Information Technologies Engineering
- Interior Design
- Landscape Architecture
- Lighting Design
- Planning
- Plumbing Engineering
- Architectural Programming
- Structural Engineering
Products & Systems
Products
- Section 06 05 23: Wood Glues
- Section 07 41 13: Metal Roofing
- Section 07 92 00: Joint Sealants
- Section 09 20 00: Plaster and Gypsum Board
- Section 13 48 00: Sounds, Vibration, and Seismic Control
- Section 23 05 93: Testing, Adjusting, and Balancing for HVAC
- Section 23 28 13: Commercial—Kitchen Hoods
- Section 23 31 00: HVAC Ducts and Casings
Systems
Specifications
- Unified Facility Guide Specifications (UFGS)
- VA Guide Specifications (UFGS)
- Federal Green Construction Guide for Specifiers
- MasterSpec®
Project Planning, Delivery and Controls
Facilities Operations & Maintenance
- Real Property Inventory (RPI)
- Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS)
- Comprehensive Facility Operation & Maintenance Manual
Documents & References
- Federal High Performance and Sustainable Buildings
- Federal Mandates
- Construction Criteria Base
- Periodicals
- Case Studies
- Bertschi School Living Science Building
- California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) Headquarters Complex
- Center for Neighborhood Technology
- Charlotte Vermont House
- Emerson Global Data Center
- Empire State Building Retrofit
- EPA New England Regional Laboratory
- EPA Region 8 Headquarters
- Federal Center South Building 1202
- Home Depot Smart Home
- Kitsap County Administration Building
- Magnify Credit Union - South Lakeland Branch
- Mercy Emergency North
- The Mutual Building - Christman Company Headquarters
- NAVFAC Building 33
- One and Two Potomac Yard
- Strategic Computing Complex
- Synergy Rewards Program
- Third Street Center
- Participating Agencies
- Industry Organizations
Tools
Continuing Education
- Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) Courses
- WBDG01 The Integrated Design Process
- WBDG02 Whole Building Approach to Laboratories
- WBDG03 Planning for Secure Buildings
- WBDG04 Optimizing Operations and Maintenance (O&M)
- WBDG05 Daylighting Principles and Strategies for Sustainable Design
- WBDG06 Sustainable Roofing Design Considerations and Applications
- WBDG07 Defining, Evaluating, and Selecting Green Products
- WBDG08 Principles and Goals of Accessible Design
- WBDG09 High-Performance EIFS for Sustainable Construction
- WBDG10 Seismic Design Basics
- WBDG11 Site Security Design Process and Strategies
- WBDG12 Window and Glazing Design Strategies for Sustainable Design
- WBDG13 Strategies for Sustainable Historic Preservation
- WBDG14 Building Commissioning Principles and Strategies
- WBDG15 Building Science Basics
- WBDG16 The Principles and Process for Conducting a Life-Cycle Cost Analysis
- WBDG17 Achieving Sustainable Site Design Through Low Impact Development Practices
- Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Courses
- FEMP01 Commissioning for Existing Federal Buildings
- FEMP02 Planning an Energy Assessment for Federal Facilities
- FEMP03 Launching a Utility Energy Services Contract (UESC): Getting to Yes!
- FEMP04 Federal On-Site Renewable Power Purchase Agreements
- FEMP05 Advanced Electric Metering in Federal Facilities
- FEMP06 Managing Water Assessment in Federal Facilities
- FEMP07 Selecting, Implementing, and Funding Photovoltaic Systems in Federal Facilities
- FEMP08 Sustainable Institutional Change for Federal Facility Managers
- FEMP13 Energy-Efficient Federal Purchasing
- FEMPFTS23 Re-Thinking Operations & Maintenance for High Performance Buildings
- FEMPFTS22 Solid-State Lighting: Highlighting Indoor Applications
- FEMPFTS21 Combined Heat and Power: An Integrated Approach to Energy Resources
- FEMPFTS20 Placing UESC Task Orders Under a GSA Areawide Contract
- FEMPFTS19 Implementing Deep Retrofits: A Whole Building Approach
- FEMPFTS18 Streamlining ESPCs for Small Sites
- FEMPFTS17 Achieving Energy Security in Federal Facilities
- FEMPFTS16 Selecting and Evaluating New and Underused Energy Technologies
- FEMPFTS15 Achieving Energy-Efficient Data Centers with New ASHRAE Thermal Guidelines
- FEMPFTS14 New Lighting Technologies
- FEMPFTS7 Federal Fleet Management 101
Building Information Modeling (BIM)
Resource Pages
- Achieving Sustainable Site Design through Low Impact Development Practices
- Acoustic Comfort
- Aesthetic Challenges
- Aesthetic Opportunities
- Air Barrier Systems in Buildings
- Air Decontamination
- Alternative Energy
- Archaeological Site Considerations
- Assessment Tools for Accessibility
- Balancing Security/Safety & Sustainability Objectives
- Biogas
- Biomass for Electricity Generation
- Biomass for Heat
- Biomimicry: Designing to Model Nature
- Blast Safety of the Building Envelope
- The Bollard: Crash- and Attack-Resistant Models
- The Bollard: Non-Crash and Non-Attack-Resistant Models
- Building Enclosure Design Principles and Strategies
- Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)
- Building Science Concepts
- Changing Nature of Organizations, Work, and Workplace
- Chemical/Biological/Radiation (CBR) Safety of the Building Envelope
- Considerations for Building Design in Cold Climates
- Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie)
- Construction Phase Cost Management
- Construction Waste Management
- Cool Metal Roofing
- Cost Impact of the ISC Security Design Criteria
- Daylighting
- Deferred Maintenance - The Use of Parametrics for Estimating Maintenance Costs
- Designing Buildings to Resist Explosive Threats
- Design for Organizational Effectiveness
- Distributed Energy Resources (DER)
- Earned Value Analysis
- Effective Site Security Design
- EIFS, Architecture, and the Sustainable Design Revolution
- Electric Lighting Controls
- Electrical Safety
- Energy Analysis Tools
- Energy Codes and Standards
- Energy Efficient Lighting
- Estimating
- Evaluating and Selecting Green Products
- Extensive Vegetative Roofs
- Facility Performance Evaluation (FPE)
- Flood Resistance of the Building Envelope
- Form
- Fuel Cells and Renewable Hydrogen
- Geothermal Electric Technology
- Geothermal Energy – Direct-Use
- Geothermal Heat Pumps
- Glazing Hazard Mitigation
- Green Building Standards and Certification Systems
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Federal Buildings
- Hangar Pavement Design
- High-Performance EIFS
- High-Performance HVAC
- HVAC Integration of the Building Envelope
- HVAC System Design for Humid Climates
- Hydropower
- Importance of Involving Key Support Staff in Facility Design through Commissioning and Turnover
- Indoor Air Quality and Mold Prevention of the Building Envelope
- Integrity Testing for Roofing and Waterproofing Membranes
- International Design Ideas for Research Laboratories
- Landscape Architecture and the Site Security Design Process
- Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA)
- Living, Regenerative, and Adaptive Buildings
- Low Impact Development Technologies
- Materials
- Measuring Performance of Sustainable Buildings
- Microturbines
- Mitigating Insurance Risks through Sustainability
- Moisture Management
- Mold and Moisture Dynamics
- Mold Remediation Guidelines
- Natural Ventilation
- Net Zero Energy Buildings
- Ocean Energy
- OmniClass
- Operations and Maintenance for Historic Structures
- Passive Solar Heating
- Photovoltaics
- Planning and Conducting Integrated Design (ID) Charrettes
- Playground Design and Equipment
- Predictive Testing & Inspection (PT&I) Can Prevent Operational Interruptions
- Psychosocial Value of Space
- Reducing Air Changes Rates, Reducing Carbon, and Saving Energy in Research Laboratories
- Reliability-Centered Maintenance
- Renovating Research Laboratories for Zero Carbon by 2030
- Retrofitting Existing Buildings to Improve Sustainability and Energy Performance
- Retrofitting Existing Buildings to Resist Explosive Threats
- Running a Design Competition
- Security and Safety in Laboratories
- Seismic Design Principles
- Seismic Safety of the Building Envelope
- Smart Controls
- Solar Ventilation Air Preheating
- Solar Water Heating
- Style
- Sun Control and Shading Devices
- Sustainability of the Building Envelope
- Sustainable Historic Preservation
- Sustainable Laboratory Design
- Sustainable O&M Practices
- Teaching Laboratories: Building Community through Science
- The Lab Module—Basis for Laboratory Design
- The Site Security Design Process
- Therapeutic Environments
- Threat/Vulnerability Assessments and Risk Analysis
- Trends in Lab Design
- UFC/ISC Security Design Criteria Overview and Comparison
- Using LEED on Laboratory Projects
- Value Engineering
- Water Conservation
- Windows and Glazing
- Wind Safety of the Building Envelope
- Wind Technology