Construction is a fast pace industry and has been applying many different advances to speed the process up and make a building last longer. Along with these new advances, certain certifications have been developed so a builder, architect, and engineer have a guideline to follow. One of type of certification that has been taking charge in the construction industry is LEED. LEED is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LEED is a process of certifying a building to become energy efficient, provide a better life span for the building, and also provide better quality of life for humans (LEED). LEED has different degrees of certifying buildings also, LEED certifies professional to before LEED Credited. Even though LEED certifies a lot …show more content…
Professionals can take test that can get them certified to become LEED professionals. The different certifications a person can achieve are LEED Green Associate and LEED AP (LEED). These two certifications are similar but different in the roles someone can have with one of the accreditation. LEED Green Associate is a test that test the basic knowledge of green building and sustainability. Most people that take the LEED Green Associate test are manufactures, managers, and even sales people also this test is required to become LEED AP certified (Difference Between). On the other hand LEED AP has many different avenues that a professional can take. Such avenues include: Building Design + Construction, Operations + Maintenance, Interior Design + Construction, Neighborhood Development, and Homes (LEED). Each area have their own unique criteria they follow and when someone picks an area to test in them become very knowledgeable in that area. Even though someone may take a test in the building design + construction area they can also take the test in another area too. When you take one test for a certain area you are not certified for other areas you have to take the test for that area of interest. Someone that may take these types of test are architects, engineers, and designers anyone that has a key role in determining a LEED certified …show more content…
Since there are so many types LEED does not certify certain buildings because they would not fall under certain criteria. This is where different LEED partners come in, they are part of the Green Building Council. LEED use to certify parking garages but in 2009 parking garages could no longer get a certification from LEED because 75% or more the floor space is used to allow vehicles to rotate through (USGBC). Parksmart is a certification process that allows parking structures to be qualified to be green. Like LEED, Parksmart has different levels of certification: Bronze, Silver, and Gold which are all based on a point system also pioneer level is available for existing structures (USGBC). Another partner is PEER which is Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal. PEER is a certification process that monitor’s how electricity is generated and being transferred making sure energy is not lost through this process (Certification). A certification can be achieved in three different area: campus project, city project, and supply project. Each of these areas has different assessment to determine whether or not they qualify for the PEER certification
LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a certification program for green buildings with stringent requirements for building energy efficient and environmentally responsible structures. Some requirements of this program include specific building materials, smart grid capable, gray water reclamation systems, green space minimums, high levels of insulation and low thermal transfer glass (US Green Building Council). Green buildings are a must if we are to sustain our current level of growth. Despite the higher initial cost of these buildings, the long term energy savings make these buildings a smarter choice for
The construction industry relies on regulations, standards, and codes of practice to ensure safe buildings constructed to a quality standard. In short, they are there to protect consumers, and ensure peace of mind. If it were not so, buildings could potentially compromise user safety, with no repercussions
The construction industry plays an important role in competitiveness and prosperity of the economy in terms of its significantly contributing to shelter, infrastructure and employment (Anaman and Osei-Amponsah, 2007). A number of researchers have investigated on the vital role of the construction sector to the overall economic growth. In Rhodes’ paper who stated the construction industry in the UK contributed £83.0 billion in economic output in 2012, which accounts for 6% of the total. Also, workforce jobs in the construction industry in UK were 2.03 million in 2012 and 2.12 million in 2013, account 6.4% and 6.5% in total respectively (C. Rhodes, 2013). Oladinrin indicated the significance of construction linkage with the aggregate economy in Nigeria by studying on construction output and Gross Domestic Project (Oladinrin and etc., 2012). A recent report of U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that the GDP value added of construction industry was $652,723 million in 2014, 3.7% of total GDP (http://www.bea.gov/industry/gdpbyind_data.htm). Besides, a report of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics stated the employment by construction industry sector take 4.7%, 3.9% and 4.5% in the year of 2002, 2012 and 2022 respectively (http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_201.htm). The construction industry has been playing an influential role on domestic GDP in China (Zhou and Liu, 2007). A report of National Bureau of Statistics of China
41 Cooper Square is the first LEED-certified academic laboratory building in New York City. With a Platinum rating, the project's advanced green building initiatives include:
Reese, C.D. and Eidson, J.V. (1999). Handbook of OSHA construction safety and health. Boca Raton, FL. CRC Press
A green building (also referred to as sustainable building or green construction) is a structure that employs an approach that is responsible for the environment besides being efficient in regard to resources all through its life cycle: This is from selecting the site to designing it, constructing, operating, maintaining, renovating and demolishing it. To achieve this, the client, the engineers, the architects and the entire design team closely cooperate at all stages of a project (Yan and Paliniotis, 2006). Practicing Green Building complements and expands the conventional building design areas of comfort, durability, utility and economy.
This sustainable development owned by the US Department of Energy, has also been certified LEED Platinum for New Construction by the U.S. Green Building Council. More than 220,000 square feet of high performance and avant-garde technologies have been combined to produce this sustainable development aimed to be completed by 2011.
In building construction and in fire prevention there are organizations that have created a useful system on how to determine what type of building falls under which category. The ICC (International Code Council) and the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) create these building codes for the safety of firefighters. The two most commonly known standards for building classifications are the NFPA 5000 and also the International Building Code (IBC). The two are very similar, however, they different on sub-categorizing. The International Building Code uses Roman numerals behind the type of construction. In addition to subcategories with letters for each five classes and the amount of fire resistance provided for each building. NFPA uses Roman numerals behind the type of construction. Unlike the IBC, NFPA uses a 3-digit number system behind that to sub categorize the fire hourly rating for the load-bearing walls, for the beams and columns, and for the floor construction. The IBC and NFPA breaks down construction in to five classes, Type I, Type II, Type III, Type IV, and Type V.
Buildings consume a variety of materials in their construction. Green design reduces the dependence on resource intensive products and materials. Today, there are an increasing number of products available made from efficient, earth-friendly, or recycled materials. In a green building, consideration is also given to the construction process itself. Materials that minimize waste or can be recycled, help contribute to an efficient and environmentally sensitive construction process.
LEED is depending on opinion of The USGBC define it " an acceptable nationally benchmark for designing, building and operation for high-performance green buildings " and " Building owners and operators with tools they need to provides a direct effect and measurable influence on the performance of their buildings ".
Sustainable buildings are becoming somewhat of a necessity in the world today. As the demand for green building develops, so does the demand for green building materials. Just as the old techniques and building materials seem to disappear in the assembly of things, they are now making a come back. Green building focuses on the efficiency of major resources like water and energy. As the cost for sustainable materials and products are on the decline, building green seems to be the most cost effective kind of design and construction. Looking specifically at green materials and their impact on the production of structures, it is evident that they are a prime choice for building material. The use of green materials should be promoted because they are better for the environment, more healthful for the consumer, and better for the economy.
Codes and Standards are associated with the rules and regulations of the art, science, and practice of mechanical engineering. These rules cover a breadth of topics, including pressure technology, elevators / escalators, construction, nuclear plants, engineering design, performance testing, and standardization. Volunteer engineers, scientists, government officials, and others contribute to the rules that protect public safety, while utilizing their technical expertise to reflect the best of their industry. The overall goals of these standards is to ensure public safety, health, and quality of life as well as to encourage the growth of trade, innovation, and competiveness. The regulations are revised based upon market needs determined through
Construction regulations allow construction professionals to stay competitive by introducing a higher standard of development that all professionals are required to meet in order to build. Which provides an immediate investment to commence energy efficiency methods (Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council 2009, p. 27).
The industry of Civil Engineering produces a lot of unwanted waste and pollutions. There are solid waste, air and even sound pollution during construction. In addition, for most structures, it will eventually be demolished and materials become waste. This is the reason why the topic sustainability has been so popular these years. The definition of sustainable development by Brundtland, 1987, is 'Sustainable development meets the economic, social and environmental needs and interests of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and interests.' The biggest concern nowadays is considered to be resources as it is limited on the earth, however, human have unlimited wants. Also, running out of resources (for example construction materials) will mean that we are compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and interests, which is not sustainable development according to above definition. There is a number of ways to create a sustainable civil product. The word 'green building' should remind you of something. Green building is a structure that uses process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle. This can be done by reducing materials needed through improving designs and some innovations or tweak it a little bit, to use materials in a more efficient way. Make good use of natural energy, the most common one is to use natural lighting by installing large windows, which reduces electricity usage.
Throughout my lifetime, I have never had to think very much about the working world and everything that went with it. All through high school I took classes I liked or thought would be interesting to me, but never thought that all of those classes were preparing me for what was to come. Before I knew it, it was time to go to college. The four years of high school had flown by and now it was time to choose a major for college. I had never given much thought as to what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The only real occupations that I had really gotten to experience were teaching, the jobs that my parents had, and others such as doctors, dentist, most of the occupations that everyone sees while they are growing up. When I finally decided on my major, I chose engineering, but I didn’t know if I would like it or not. The only prior knowledge I had about it was the fact that my grandfather was an electrical and chemical engineer, and that my parents and teachers said that I would be good at engineering. Recently I have been interested in civil engineering, but what does one do with such a degree? What opportunities are available to a person with a degree in civil engineering on the job market? The broad curriculum that covers many different fields of engineering make civil engineering a major that allows a person to work in nearly any field they wish.