Green Building - What is It?2032258
The oil crisis and the series of natural disasters are a wake up call to all of us. They remind us how fragile our modern lifestyles are and force us to accept the reality that all these conveniences we enjoy can be taken away in a flick of a finger. The only way we can make sure that our limited resources can cope with our needs and demands is through technology, which is not without consequences. Oil spills, radioactive wastes, and the likes of biochemical weapons, are examples of its undesirable and oftentimes destructive products.
Occasions like these do more than give us an excuse to be concerned. They offer us an opportunity to think out of the box. The practice of green building is a prime instance of how we can meet today's challenges through effective use of technology.
The Meaning of Green Building The two main principles behind green building are efficiency and reduction of the negative environmental influence on human health and the atmosphere. These buildings are designed to maximize the use of energy, water, and building supplies. They are also designed to shield the health of the occupant, improve the output of workers and, most importantly, reduce the general harsh impact of pollution and waste. Green building is also known as sustainable construction, sustainable design, and green architecture.
What are the Primary Features of Green Building? Green building has consolidated a wide-range of services and methods to minimize and eventually extinguish negative impacts of buildings to the individuals and the surroundings. It banks on the use of renewable resources like natural lighting and greenery, however, green building is more than just utilizing environmental-friendly materials it demands careful planning, design and integration of the green building's best practices to maximize its impact during its whole life cycle.
Green Site The most notable element of green building is to retain existing landscapes and organic elements of a place to be developed. Green materials are also typically included and manufactured locally to the building site. For plants selection, those that can survive on low water are ideal for green buildings to save time and effort. Environment-friendly compost and mulches are used in place of pesticides.
Energy Efficient Effective green building design strategies can affect the shape and orientation of the building and the use of natural lighting through effective window and wall placements. Natural lighting is deeply encouraged in green building concepts because it doesn't only have a positive impact on the well being of the occupants; studies have also proven that it increases the overall productivity of the employees.
Green buildings also make use of highly efficient lighting systems, correctly-sized energy-effective heat and cooling systems, and solar water heating.
Materials Efficiency Green construction projects are effective in utilizing recyclable, tough, and sustainable harvested building materials. They also make use of materially effective methods to reduce the quantity of building supplies and reduce building costs.
Water Efficiency The water systems in green buildings are designed to use recycled water for toilet flushing. They also utilize the gray water system that retrieves rainwater for site irrigation. Aside from that, they use ultra low-flush toilets and other water conserving fixtures to reduce wastewater usage. Re-circulating systems are also employed for hot water distribution.
