Green Building Concepts

Source : http://www.finehomebuilding.com

Green building takes sustainable development concepts which can then be applied to a vast array of practices tied to building construction. In doing so they increase the efficiency of resources—water, energy, materials and waste—while reducing the impact the construction project has on humans, health, and the environment.

There are many building life cycles that can be managed with green building concepts in mind, such as design, construction, operation, maintenance, and waste removal/disposal. Green building can reduce operating costs by increasing productivity and using less water and energy, improve health by improving indoor air quality, and reduce environmental impacts. We’ll break down each building concept below.

Design

The design process focuses on taking advantage of renewable resources right from the start. Some techniques include:

• Using sunlight through passive and active solar and photovoltaic options
• Using green roofs and rain gardens to reduce rainwater run-off
• Using packed gravel for parking lots instead of asphalt or concrete to enhance replenishment of ground water
• Use high-efficiency windows and insulation in walls, ceilings, and floors
• Use trees planted in front of windows to produce shade in the summer and maximize solar rays during winter
Green building design keeps a close check on the full life cycle impacts of the resources that make up the structure. Aesthetically, the design of the building doesn’t always take the surrounding environmental features into account.

Construction

Green building projects take building materials into account early in the process as well. Selecting what materials to use is usually part of the designing stage as well to ensure sustainability in the following years. Some materials used include:

• Rapidly renewable plant materials like bamboo and straw
• Lumber from forests certified to be sustainably managed
• Dimension stone, a natural stone or rock that has been selected and fabricated
• Recycled stone and metal and other products that are non-toxic, reusable, renewable, and/or recyclable
• Use building materials from local sources to minimize energy use due to their transportation.
Along with materials, sustainability in the construction process can also include acts such as employing local, so that opportunities and greater well-being are fostered in the local community.

Operation

The low operation costs of an efficiently constructed green building generate many long term benefits aside from sustainability. These include financial and health benefits, which can be incorporated in many ways.

Financial benefits:

Lower energy costs from some of the design processes–mentioned above, and including but not limited to:
• high efficiency windows and insulation
• passive solar building design
• Roofs that create high solar reflectance (thereby reducing heat transfer to the building) and high thermal emittance (when a large percentage of absorbed/non-reflected solar energy is able to be released). These are called “cool roofs”
• These designs/efficient materials reduce costs directly in maximizing natural light, heating and cooling, thereby requiring less electricity usage.
• capitalized natural ventilation from absorption chillers
• Heat recovery ventilation systems to recover heat from used air and transfer it to fresh air.
• Install fluorescent lighting to use 2/3 to 3/4 less energy than incandescent bulbs
• this lowers electricity use directly, as well as indirectly with cooling loads
Installing highly efficiency appliances-some interesting statistics* about appliances to note, from the National Institute of Building Sciences’ “Whole Building Design Guide“:
Older toilets use 3.7-7 gallons per flush
Dishwashers use 8-14 gallons per cycle
Top-loading washers use 45 gallons/load
A dripping faucet waste 15-21 gallons per day
Like fluorescent bulbs, high efficiency appliances will reduce energy use directly by their efficiency and also by producing less waste heat

Health Benefits:

Health benefits from green building are greater than just a better natural feeling. From the National Institute of Building Sciences’ “Whole Building Design Guide”, here are some health statistics to think about (* Notes in footer)
US EPA ranks indoor air pollution among top five environmental risks. Unhealthy air is found in up to 30% of new and renovated buildings
W.H.O. reports that indoor air pollution causes 14 times more deaths than outdoor air pollution (2.8 million lives)
Of hundreds of EPA-regulated chemicals, only ozone and sulfur dioxide are more prevalent outdoor than indoors
20 percent of all housing in the US has too much lead dust or chippings (causes kidney and red blood cell damage, impairs mental and physical development, may increase high blood pressure)
About a quarter of the nation’s largest industrial plants and water treatment facilities are in serious violation of pollution standards at any one time
An estimated 7 million Americans are made sick annually by contaminated tap water; in some rare cases this results in death
These risks can be reduced and conditions improved by following green building concepts in:
Regulating natural air ventilation and quality
Non-toxic, natural and renewable materials
Regulated water and efficient appliances



Source : http://www.archive.poly.edu


Maintenance

Maintaining a building is important to ensuring it remains sustainable and profitable. Like one would do with a car, as the building ages, it is important to check areas of the building to make sure they are still at an acceptable quality level. However, the nice thing about green building is that even though initial costs of implementation are higher, long-term maintenance is often much less of a hassle! Consider the idea of design concepts taking into account the increased usage of natural light and temperature control services–the more natural used, the less maintenance of and dependency on furnaces, air conditioners, and lighting systems you will have to worry about, as they will be used less.

Smaller scale maintenance, such as cleaning the building, can also be chosen and used to improve indoor air quality, reduce water pollution, and maintain environmentally sustainable concepts. Some notions to keep in mind when choosing cleaning products are:

• choose less hazardous products to minimize negative impacts on human health, air quality and reduce water pollution
• avoid products with corrosive, carcinogenic and other irritating or volatile organic chemicals
• this will reduce hazardous waste costs when the time comes to dispose or any leftover product in the appropriate manner
• buy cleaners with returnable or recyclable packaging to reduce waste, or buy them in bulk or concentrates–with refillable/reusable containers if available
• pay careful attention that excess product is disposed of appropriately. Contact the product company or a local institute for information if you are unsure
Reduce Waste
Waste can be reduced on several levels by taking a green approach to building. In terms of construction, using the materials listed above helps divert waste from landfills. With the appropriate green-building measures, waste reduction carries on to the operation of a building as well.
• on site waste management, such as separating garbage, recycling and compost
• centralized wastewater treatment systems reuse wastewater from dishwashing or washing machines
o however these are costly and use a lot of energy–there are many smaller steps to be taken as an alternative, such as low power showerheads, converting wastewater to fertilizer via a biogas plant, and more
• making it easy for occupants to reduce energy waste as a part of their daily routines, such as intelligent building design to allow them enough light that daytime lights are unnecessary, to mention one option
Ultimately, from diverting waste from landfills in the construction process, to designing efficiently to minimize waste during operation, to ensuring on-site maintenance chooses efficient products and processes, keeping green concepts in mind throughout all stages of building life cycle will contribute to waste reduction.

Source: http://www.thegreenrocket.com