Sustainable design is the systematic consideration, during the design process, of an activity, project, product or facility's life cycle impacts on the sustainable use of environmental and energy resources. This means the design strives for safe, energy efficient, and environmentally responsible facilities and operations.

A facility's environmental performance should be viewed from a "whole building" perspective over its life cycle. As such, sustainable building design principles include:

• Planning sustainable sites
• Improving energy efficiency
• Conserving materials and resources
• Enhancing indoor environmental quality
• Safeguarding water
• Improving the design/build process.

The Complex-wide Sustainable Design Program has suggested three levels of integration that collectively ensure the systematic adoption of sustainable design principles into facility design activities:

1. The program management planning level, which gives a framework for assessing existing activities, and then, through a gap analysis, identifying areas where improvements can be accomplished.
2. The site infrastructure level, which covers the administrative systems and operations required to perform facility design projects.
3. The design project level, where the specific design elements are defined for individual facility projects.
   

Roadmap for Integrating Sustainable Design at DOE Sites Sustainable Design Program Management Strategy Perform Baseline Assessment and Gap Analysis Establish Integration Goals Implement Action Plan Demonstrate Performance …to address the following SD integration parameters: Site Infrastructure Integration Parameters Policy Site Contractor Performance Agreements Site Operating Procedures Training Architecture and Engineering Standards and Specifications Project Level Integration Parameters Project Charter Budget Planning Project Team Leadership Training Conceptual Design Documentation Integration with Existing Project Design Processes Project Cost Baselines Pollution Prevention Design Assessment Architecture and Engineering Subcontracts Facility Operations and Decommissioning