Green Building

By suneet chandna
Green Building

A sustainable building, or green building is an outcome of a design

philosophy which focuses on increasing the efficiency of resource use —
energy, water, and materials — while reducing building impacts on human
health and the environment during the building's lifecycle, through better
siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal.
Green building is a concept idea incorporating a wide spectrum of solutions
and best-practices. Though green building is interpreted in many different
ways, a common opinionis that they should be designed and operated 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[2]
Related concepts
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.[3] Other
commonly used terms include sustainable design and green architecture.
The related concepts of sustainable development and sustainability are integral to
green building. Effective green building can lead to 1) reduced operating costs by
increasing productivity and using less energy and water, 2) improved public and
occupant health due to improved indoor air quality, and 3) reduced environmental
impacts by, for example, lessening storm water runoff and the heat island effect.
Practitioners of green building often seek to achieve not only ecological but
aesthetic harmony between a structure and its surrounding natural and built
environment, although the appearance and style of sustainable buildings is not
necessarily distinguishable from their less sustainable counterparts.
A common misconception is that energy efficient buildings are also green
buildings. While energy efficiency is an integral part of a sustainable building,
energy efficiency alone does not qualify a building as green.
 Aim
Green building practices aim to reduce the environmental impact of buildings. Buildings account for a
large amount of land use, energy and water consumption, and air and atmosphere alteration. In the
United States, more than 2,000,000 acres (8,100 km2) of open space, wildlife SUPS habitat, and
wetlands are developed each year.[1]
As of 2006, buildings used 40 percent of the total energy consumed in both the US and European
Union.[4][5] In the US, 54 percent of that percentage was consumed by residential buildings and
46 percent by commercial buildings.[6] In 2002, buildings used approximately 68 percent of the total
electricity consumed in the United States with 51 percent for residential use and 49 percent for
commercial use. 38 percent of the total amount of carbon dioxide in the United States can be attributed
to buildings, 21 percent from homes and 17.5 percent from commercial uses. Buildings account for
12.2 percent of the total amount of water consumed per day in the United States.[citation needed]
Considering these 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.[7]
The environmental impact of buildings is often underestimated, while the perceived costs of green
buildings are overestimated. A recent survey by the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development finds that green costs are overestimated by
300 percent, as key players in real estate and construction estimate the additional cost at 17 percent
above conventional construction, more than triple the true average cost difference of about 5 percent.[8]
 Practices
Green building brings together a vast array of practices and techniques to reduce and
ultimately eliminate the impacts of buildings on the environment and human health. It
often emphasizes taking advantage of renewable resources, e.g., using sunlight through
passive solar, active solar, and photovoltaic techniques and using plants and trees
through green roofs, rain gardens, and for reduction of rainwater run-off. Many other
techniques, such as using packed gravel or permeable concrete instead of conventional
concrete or asphalt to enhance replenishment of ground water, are used as well.
Effective green buildings are more than just a random collection of environmental
friendly technologies, however.[9] They require careful, systemic attention to the full life
cycle impacts of the resources embodied in the building and to the resource
consumption and pollution emissions over the building's complete life cycle.
On the aesthetic side of green architecture or sustainable design is the philosophy of
designing a building that is in harmony with the natural features and resources
surrounding the site. There are several key steps in designing sustainable buildings:
specify 'green' building materials from local sources, reduce loads, optimize systems,
and generate on-site renewable energy.
Green building materials
Building materials typically considered to be 'green' include rapidly renewable
plant materials like bamboo (because bamboo grows quickly) and straw, lumber
from forests certified to be sustainably managed, ecology blocks, dimension stone,
recycled stone, recycled metal, and other products that are non-toxic, reusable,
renewable, and/or recyclable (e.g. Trass, Linoleum, sheep wool, panels made from
paper flakes, compressed earth block, adobe, baked earth, rammed earth, clay,
vermiculite, flax linen, sisal, seagrass, cork, expanded clay grains, coconut, wood
fibre plates, calcium sand stone, concrete (high and ultra high performance, roman
self-healing concrete[10]) , etc.[11][12]) The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
also suggests using recycled industrial goods, such as coal combustion products,
foundry sand, and demolition debris in construction projects [13] Polyurethane
heavily reduces carbon emissions as well. Polyurethane blocks are being used
instead of CMTs by companies like American Insulock. Polyurethane blocks
provide more speed, less cost, and they are environmentally friendly. [14] Building
materials should be extracted and manufactured locally to the building site to
minimize the energy embedded in their transportation.
Green building reduces energy use
Green buildings often include measures to reduce energy use. To increase
the efficiency of the building envelope, (the barrier between conditioned
and unconditioned space), they may use high-efficiency windows and
insulation in walls, ceilings, and floors. Another strategy,
passive solar building design, is often implemented in low-energy homes.
Designers orient windows and walls and place awnings, porches, and trees [15]
to shade windows and roofs during the summer while maximizing solar
gain in the winter. In addition, effective window placement (daylighting)
can provide more natural light and lessen the need for electric lighting
during the day. Solar water heating further reduces energy loads.
Finally, onsite generation of renewable energy through solar power,
wind power, hydro power, or biomass can significantly reduce the
environmental impact of the building. Power generation is generally the
most expensive feature to add to a building.
Green building reduces waste
Green architecture also seeks to reduce waste of energy, water and materials used during
construction. For example, in California nearly 60% of the state's waste comes from commercial
buildings[16] During the construction phase, one goal should be to reduce the amount of
material going to landfills. Well-designed buildings also help reduce the amount of waste
generated by the occupants as well, by providing on-site solutions such as compost bins to
reduce matter going to landfills.
To reduce the impact on wells or water treatment plants, several options exist. "Greywater",
wastewater from sources such as dishwashing or washing machines, can be used for subsurface
irrigation, or if treated, for non-potable purposes, e.g., to flush toilets and wash cars. Rainwater
collectors are used for similar purposes.
Centralized wastewater treatment systems can be costly and use a lot of energy. An alternative to
this process is converting waste and wastewater into fertilizer, which avoids these costs and
shows other benefits. By collecting human waste at the source and running it to a semi-
centralized biogas plant with other biological waste, liquid fertilizer can be produced. This
concept was demonstrated by a settlement in Lubeck Germany in the late 1990s. Practices like
these provide soil with organic nutrients and create carbon sinks that remove carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere, offsetting greenhouse gas emission. Producing artificial fertilizer is also
more costly in energy than this process.[17]
Examples of green building in some
countries
Canada
 Beamish-Munro Hall at Queen's University features sustainable construction methods such as high fly-
ash concrete, triple-glazed windows, dimmable fluorescent lights and a grid-tied photovoltaic array.
 Gene H. Kruger Pavilion at Laval University uses largely non polluting, non toxic, recycled and renewable
materials as well as advanced bioclimatic concepts that reduce energy consumption by 25% compared
with a concrete building of the same dimensions. The structure of the building is made entirely out of
wood products, thus further reducing the environmental impact of the building.
 The City of Calgary Water Centreofficially opened June 4, 2008 at the Manchester Centre with a
minimum Green Building Council of Canada’s Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) level certification. The 183,000-square-foot (17,000 m2) office building is 95 per cent day lit,
conserves energy and water and fosters a productive, healthy environment for visitors and employees
alike.
 Rodeo Fine Homes development in Newmarket, Ontario is first in Canada to be built entirely to LEED
platinum eco-standard. The 34 homes in the EcoLogic development by Rodeo Fine Homes will use at
least 50 per cent less water, have 35 per cent fewer discharge flows and generate 60 per cent less solid
waste, greenhouse gas production and energy consumption than conventional homes. Local suppliers
are featured, such as Forest Stewardship Council certified lumber from Kott Lumber in Stouffville and
Mississauga cabinet manufacturer Aya (kitchens) produced the urea formaldehyde-free EVO cabinetry
Examples in france
In July 2007, the French government established six
working groups to address ways to redefine France's
environment policy. The proposed recommendations
were then put to public consultation, leading to a set of
recommendations released at the end of October 2007.
These recommendations will be put to the French
parliament in early 2008.
The name of the process, "Le Grenelle de
l'Environnement", refers to a 1968 conference when
government negotiated with unions to end weeks of
social unrest.
Example of France
Building labels
The french regulation (RT) for new construction was following an incremental logic
with a regular (every five years) increase in the exigence level requested to achieve by
2020 (RT 2020) a 40% reduction of energy consumption with respect to the RT 2000.
Current label are: THPE 2005=20% better than the RT2005. THPE EnR 2005= 30%
better than RT2005+ Renewable energy production for the majority of heating.
Within the framework of the “Grenelle de l’envronnement”, a performance
acceleration is expected to meet with the following objectives for tertiary buildings:
I. Low consumption buildings (BBC) by 2010 with minimum requirements
concerning the levels of renewable energy and CO2 absorption materials by 2012.
II. Passive new buildings (BEPAS) or Positive buildings (BEPOS) by 2020.
Labels for refurbishment of existing BBC buildings.
All these developments match with the European and international regulations and
frame
Examples of Germany
German developments that employ green building techniques include:
The Solarsiedlung (Solar Village) in Freiburg, Germany, which features
energy-plus houses.
The Vauban development, also in Freiburg.
Houses designed by Baufritz, incorporating passive solar design, heavily
insulated walls, triple-glaze doors and windows, non-toxic paints and finishes,
summer shading, heat recovery ventilation, and greywater treatment systems.[18]
The new Reichstag building in Berlin, which produces its own energy.
In January 2009 the first German certificates for sustainable buildings were
handed over. The standard for the new certificates is developed by the DGNB
(Deutsche Gesellschaft für nachhaltiges Bauen e.V. - German Society for
Sustainable Construction) and the BMVBS (Bundesministeriums für Verkehr,
Bau und Stadtentwicklung -
Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs
Examples in Mexico
The Mexican town of San Felipe, Baja California, is home to the largest
solar-powered community in North America (3000+ home sites), with
completely off-the-grid neighborhoods within El Dorado Ranch, a 30,000-
acre (120 km2) development in San Felipe.
Because of the arid climate in this Sea of Cortez town, a number of green
building initiatives have been implemented including:
Straw-Bale Home Construction, enabling insulation factors of R-35 to R-50,
as verified by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, 1995.
Predominant use of xeriscaping - landscaping practices that reduces
water consumption, energy consumption and toxic chemical usage.
Golf Course construction utilizing SeaDwarf Grass, one of the most
salt tolerant grasses with the ability to withstand ongoing irrigation having
salinity levels in excess of 20 parts per thousand total dissolved solids (TDS)
(equivalent to 55% of marine salinity).