Have you heard about green buildings? Do you know what this term means exactly? How expensive are these green building technologies? Why use such technologies? All these questions are buzzing around us. Well, Green building is a concept catching the fancy of people worldwide. Let us explore more about this innovative concept.
A sustainable building, also known as green construction or green building, is the practice of using environmentally responsible processes and resources for developing structures during planning, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and deconstruction.
The main objective is to lessen the overall impact of the built environment on the natural environment and human health by:
·
Reducing environmental degradation, pollution
and waste.
·
Using water, energy and other resources
efficiently.
·
Improving employee productivity.
·
Protecting the health of occupants.
·
Heat reduction with insulated walls and roofs.
·
Cross ventilation with fresh breeze.
Natural building is a similar concept on a smaller scale. It generally tends
to focus on the use of locally available natural materials. Energy efficient
buildings, green architecture, sustainable designs are other related topics.
New technologies complement current practices in creating greener structures. The green building movement evolved due to the desire and need for environmentally friendly and energy efficient construction practices. The concept of green building has numerous motives including social, environmental and economic benefits. Green building brings together different techniques and practices to lessen and ultimately eliminate the impact of buildings on human health and the environment. It involves the use of renewable resources, like using sunlight through photovoltaic, active solar, passive solar techniques or using trees and plants through rain gardens, green roofs, etc.
The technologies or practices employed in green building are continuously evolving and may vary from region to region. However, there are basic principles-
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Water Efficiency
·
Energy Efficiency
·
Siting and Structure Design Efficiency
·
Indoor Environmental Quality Enhancement
·
Materials Efficiency
·
Toxics and Waste Reduction
·
Operations and Maintenance Optimization
The core of green building is an optimization of one or more of these
principles. When it comes to the aesthetic side of sustainable design or green
architecture, the idea is to design a building, which is in harmony with the
natural resources and features surrounding the area. Benefits of Green Homes
A Green Home features both tangible and intangible benefits. The most tangible and immediate benefit of this concept is the reduction in operating energy cost and water. Let us have a look at its benefits-
Tangible benefits -
Water savings : 30 to 50%
Energy savings : 20 to 30 %
Intangible benefits -
Conservation of scarce national resources,
Excellent day lighting,
Improved air quality,
Enhanced Health of the occupants,
Green Building Materials
The concept of green building includes and integrates numerous strategies during the design, construction and operation of the building. Using green building products and materials is one of the important strategies in the design of a building.
There are multiple benefits of green building materials:
•
Greater design flexibility.
•
Energy conservation.
•
Reduced replacement/maintenance costs over the life of
the building.
•
Lower costs associated with varying space
configurations.
Research shows that every year, construction and building activities
globally consume more than 3 billion tons of raw materials. The use of green
building products and materials promotes maintenance of declining nonrenewable
resources worldwide. Further, incorporating green building materials into
projects can help lower the environmental impact associated with fabrication,
installation, extraction, processing, reuse, transport, recycling, and disposal
etc. All in all, with this ‘Go green’ endeavor, we can enjoy the lifelong benefits at small makeup costs. Get ready to enjoy various benefits including healthy living, eco-friendly infrastructural facilities, efficient waste segregation and innovative solid waste management.
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