green building essay

Introduction Since the Industrial Revolution, the world has witnessed incalculable technological achievements, population growth, and corresponding increases in resource use. As we enter a new century, we are recognizing the “side effects” of our activities: pollution, landfills at capacity, toxic waste, global warming, resource and ozone depletion, and deforestation. These efforts are straining the limits of the Earth's “carrying capacity”—its ability to provide the resources required to sustain life while retaining the capacity to regenerate and remain viable. As the world's population continues to expand, implementation of resource-efficient measures in all areas of human activity is imperative. The built environment is one clear example of the impact of human activity on resources. Buildings have a significant impact on the environment, accounting for one-sixth of the world's freshwater withdrawals, one-quarter of its wood harvest, and two-fifths of its material and energy flows. Structures also impact areas beyond their immediate location, affecting the watersheds, air quality, and transportation patterns of communities.[1] That recognition is leading to changes in the way the building industry and building owners approach the design, construction, and operation of structures. With the leadership of diverse groups in the public and private sectors, the building industry is moving toward a new value in its work: that of environmental performance. The industry's growing sustainability ethic is based on the principles of resource efficiency, health, and productivity. Realization of these principles involves an integrated, multidisciplinary approach—one in which a building project and its components are viewed on a full life-cycle basis. This “cradle-to-cradle” approach, known as “green” or “sustainable” building, considers a building's total economic and.
Green building 1 Green building Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort.[1] Although new technologies are constantly being developed to complement current practices in creating greener structures, the common objective is that 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 environmental degradation[1] A similar concept is natural building, which is usually on a smaller scale and tends to focus on the use of natural materials that are available locally.[2] Other related topics include sustainable design and green architecture. Green building does not specifically address the issue of the retrofitting existing homes. US EPA Kansas City Science & Technology Center. This facility features the following green attributes: *LEED 2.0 Gold certified *Green Power *Native Landscaping Reducing environmental impact Green building practices aim to reduce the environmental impact of new buildings. Buildings account for a large amount of land use, energy and water consumption, and air and atmosphere alteration. Considering the statistics, reducing the amount of natural resources buildings consume and the amount of pollution given off is seen as crucial for future sustainability, according to EPA. The building sector alone accounts for 30-40 percent of global.
Published: 23, March 2015 According to Arnel (2012), a green building focuses on increasing the efficiency of resource use - energy, water, and materials, while reducing building impact on human health and the environment during the building's lifecycle, through better sitting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal. Before green building is introduced to the construction industry, this industry has contributed some part of harmful to the environment in term of the usage of building material and also the operation involve in construction. This is supported by Batuwangala (2010), said that during the last 30-40 years we have been sensing the bitter experience of global warming, ozone depletion, resource depletion, energy scarcity, ecological toxicity, human toxicity, acid rains etc. Malaysia is no exception in green building technology in the construction industry. The example of building which is applied the concept of green is the Diamond Building, G-Tower, Space U-8, and 11 Mont' Kiara. Hwa (2009) reported that G-Tower and 11 Mont' Kiara received a Green Mark Gold certification (provisional) Award and Green Mark Certified Award (provisional) respectively from the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore. Batuwangala (2010), said that green building concept, in broader terms, involves a building, which is designed, built, operated, maintained or reused with objectives to protect occupant health, improve employee productivity, use wisely natural resources and reduce the environmental impact. There are five aspects of green building concept that is need to be follow such as lot design, preparation and development, resource efficiency, energy efficiency, water efficiency and indoor environmental quality. Turcotte et al. (2006) stated that the concept of lot design, preparation and development is thoughtful and efficient site design and.
Essay on Green Building Movement in India!The Green Building movement has gained tremendous momentum during the past 3-4 years, ever since the Green Business Centre embarked on achieving the prestigious the Leadership Energy and Environmental Design rating for their own center at Hyderabad.The “Platinum Rating” for the Green Business Centre building has sensitized the stakeholders of the construction industry. Today, several corporate and Government are considering Green buildings in a major way. This has resulted in a spurt in the demand for Green materials& equipment.The Indian materials and equipment manufacturers are now faced with the challenge to seriously look at Green features to meet the growing demand for Green Buildings. Eco or green design principles are universal it cannot be one for USA, one for India and one for Japan.Most of the green building rating systems touch on the same chord that is constipation of resources. But the LEED rating system has turned out to be the most versatile and robust. After considering various rating systems, the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) decided to adopt the LEED rating system.The IGBC is working in India to indigenize the LEED rating system to include the local factors. ‘LEED India’ rating which considers local Indian codes and standards is in an advanced stage of development. The green building experiences in India have been exciting and challenging as well.Since its introduction in 2001, the LEED rating has emerged as a very useful tool in designing a green building. The LEED rating provided opportunities to introduce new products and materials. The easy availability of most of the green materials and equipment in the country has made it easier for the designers to adopt local materials to a very large extent.Now there is an imminent need for service providers, who would be required in large numbers, not in.
Green Architecture :: 2 Works Cited :: 2 Sources Cited Length: 661 words (1.9 double-spaced pages) Rating: Red (FREE)   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Green Architecture Green architecture is an approach to building which has become more popular in the last 25 to 30 years. Also known as sustainable design, green architecture is a method of design that minimizes the impact of building on the environment. Once thought of as unconventional and nonstandard, both regulatory agencies and the public alike are quickly accepting green architecture as a socially responsible and logical means of construction. The beginnings of today's green revolution can be traced back to the environmental awareness of the 1960s and European design. New construction techniques have lead to the development of innovative materials and design concepts. Green buildings are designed, constructed and commissioned to ensure they are healthy for their occupants. Successfully designed green projects can involve an extensive array of factors, ranging from the resourceful use of materials, to careful consideration of function, climate, and location. The concepts about green architecture can generally be organized into several areas of application. These areas include sustainability, materials, energy efficiency, land use, and waste reduction. Green buildings are not only designed for present use, but consideration is also been given to future uses as well. An adaptable structure can be recycled many times over the course of its useful life. If specific technical issues prevent use of the building for a new function, then the materials used in its construction are designed to facilitate ease of recycling and reprocessing of materials. Buildings consume a variety of materials in their construction. Green design reduces the dependence on resource intensive products and.