GREEN BUILDING

Green Building Green building - also known as sustainable or high performance building - is the practice of: Increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy, water, and materials; and Protecting and restoring human health and the environment, throughout the building life-cycle: siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction.

Green Building Concept The `Green Building' concept is gaining importance in various countries, including India. These are buildings that ensure that waste is minimized at every stage during the construction and operation of the building, resulting in low costs, according to experts in the technology.

Cont…. The techniques associated with the `Green Building' include measures to prevent erosion of soil, rainwater harvesting, preparation of landscapes to reduce heat, reduction in usage of potable water, recycling of waste water and use of world class energy efficient practices.

What makes a building "green"? A green building is a structure that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout its life-cycle. These objectives expand and complement the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort.

Green buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by: Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity Reducing waste, pollution and environment degradation

For example………. Green buildings may incorporate sustainable materials in their construction (e.g., reused, recycled-content, or made from renewable resources); Create healthy indoor environments with minimal pollutants (e.g., reduced product emissions); And feature landscaping that reduces water usage (e.g., by using native plants that survive without extra watering).

How Homes Become Green

Building Types Homes Schools Commercial Buildings Laboratories Healthcare Facilities

Benefits Of Green Building Buildings have an enormous impact on the environment, human health, and the economy. The successful adoption of green building strategies can maximize both the economic and environmental performance of buildings.

Environmental benefits Enhance and protect biodiversity and ecosystems Improve air and water quality Reduce waste streams Conserve and restore natural resources

Economic benefits Reduce operating costs Create, expand, and shape markets for green product and services Improve occupant productivity Optimize life-cycle economic performance

Social benefits Enhance occupant comfort and health Heighten aesthetic qualities Minimize strain on local infrastructure Improve overall quality of life

How do buildings affect natural resources? Buildings and development have significant environmental impacts on our natural resources, including: According to surveys conducted in 2002, 107.3 million acres of the 1.983 billion acres of total land area in the U.S. is developed, which represents an increase of 24 percent in developed land over the past 10 years. In terms of energy, buildings accounted for 39.4 percent of total U.S. energy consumption and 67.9 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption in 2002.

Cont…. Building occupants use 12.2 percent of the total water consumed in the U.S. per day. Buildings, and the transportation infrastructure that serves them, replace natural surfaces with impermeable materials, creating runoff that washes pollutants and sediments into surface waters. Urban runoff constitutes a major threat to water resources, as it has been identified as the fourth leading source of impairment in rivers, third in lakes, and second on estuaries.

How do buildings affect climate change? The energy used to heat and power our buildings leads to the consumption of large amounts of energy, mainly from burning fossil fuels - oil, natural gas and coal - which generate significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most widespread greenhouse gas. Buildings in the U.S. contribute 38.1 percent of the nation's total carbon dioxide emissions.

Cont…. Reducing the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions produced by buildings is therefore fundamental to the effort to slow the pace of global climate change. Buildings may be associated with the release of greenhouse gases in other ways, for example, construction and demolition debris that degrades in landfills may generate methane, and the extraction and manufacturing of building materials may also generate greenhouse gas emissions.

START THINKING GREEN