The statistics shown by The Environmental Protection agency claim that buildings in the United States contribute about 40 % of the nation’s total carbon dioxide emissions (2). Green building is the process of construction that is done in a way to conserve natural resources and reduce the harmful impact that construction has on the environment. Green building includes environmentally sound design, construction, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. Greenhouse emission is the release of gases, like methane gas and carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere. Construction waste management is the concept of reducing, reusing, recycling, and design in a way that uses the least amount of resources as possible and minimizing the amount of waste.Environmentally friendly construction will have a positive impact on the environment by reducing pollution, reducing waste, conserving energy, conserving water, and using eco-friendly building materials.
Environmentally friendly construction will have a positive impact on the environment by reducing pollution in the environment. According to Sarah Bucci, green building will “Prevent the emission of 52.2 million tons of global warming pollution every year by 2030, the equivalent of taking over 9.2 million cars off the road” (parag. 6). Greenhouse emission is the release of gases into the atmosphere that are harmful to the environment. These gases contribute to global warming and climate change because they prevent heat from passing through the ozone layer. This suggests that by constructing eco-friendly buildings, the impact of greenhouse emission will significantly be reduced. If more construction companies were to build greener, it would be the same as removing the pollution caused by the millions of ca...
... middle of paper ...
...Mazzoni, Mary. "Eco-Friendly Building Materials for Your Home Remodel." Earth911com. N.p., 23 May 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Milioti, Stephen. "Is Bamboo Floor a Good Idea or Just a Fad?" New York Times. N.p., 17 Apr. 2008. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "Learning About Renewable Energy." Nrel.gov. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 16 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
The U.S. Department of Energy. "Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy." Energy.gov. The U.S. Department of Energy, Oct. 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
U.S. Department of Energy. "Small Solar Electric Systems." Energy.gov. U.S. Department of Energy, 15 July 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
The U.S. Small Business Administration. "Energy Efficiency for Construction Contractors." Energy Efficiency for Construction Contractors. The U.S. Small Business Administration, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
www.fueleconomy.gov: The official U.S. Government Source for Fuel Economy Information. U.S. Department of Energy, 5 Jan 2012. Web. 5 Jan 2012.
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
http://www.army.mil/article/79388/ (accessed March 16, 2014). Tiwari, G.N., and R.K. Mishra. Advanced Renewable Energy Sources. Cambridge, U.K.: RSC Publishing, 2011. U.S. Congressional Record - Senate.
"Solar & Wind Energy Calculations: The (very) Basics." Solar-estimate.org. Solar-Estimate, 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Rotman, David. "Finding a Solar Solution." Technology Review 2 (2012): 48-51. Print. 22 November 2014.
How Efficient is Solar Energy Technology? Engineering Challenges. n. d. a. d. a. d. d. 8 April 2014. http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9082.aspx>. How do Nuclear Plants Work?”
Kujac, Piper. "ASK INHABITAT: Is Imported Bamboo Really Sustainable? | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building." Inhabitat Sustainable Design Innovation Eco Architecture Green Building ASK INHABITAT Is Imported Bamboo Really Sustainable Comments. Inhabitat, 17 Feb. 2007. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. .
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.
Whether you are considering building new or simply renovating, there are many verdant options that a company can use to reduce expenses. There is a price difference present between the costs of traditional and eco-friendly building materials. Typically these costs contribute about 2-3% towards the increase on price when choosing to use green building materials (Lawson, 2009). At first you think 2 - 3%, really is not significant at all, however if you consider many of the larger companies easily spends upwards of 5 – 6 million dollars on new constructions. That is quiet a magnitude of money; ranging anywhere from $100,000 – $180,000 in extra investments, depending on the options that are chosen.
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.
Globally, green buildings are being recognised and accredited, leading to the introduction of various tools and indices with one common objective that is to evaluate, measure, distinguish and sets apart this uniquely designed buildings from the rest. The Diamond Building carries a Green Building Index (GBI) accreditation, a first in Malaysia. Among the achievement of the ST Diamond Building are:
The use of green materials is better for the environment because they have a positive impact on the planet. Looking at our environment today we see a place that has been facing a massive climate change. Scientists have been concerned over global warming for decades. The ongoing increase of the earth’s temperature is believed to be caused by the greenhouse effect (“Global Warming” 27). Building with green materials produces significantly lower greenhouse gas emission. Specifically, wood as a material for building products, requires considerably less energy than other building products such as steel and concrete. Wood product manufacture results in fewer greenhouse gas and other air-polluting emissions (“Green Building Benefits”). Green building also results in waste reduction. In the United States, construction and demolition creates a huge amount of solid waste. Green building limits the waste prod...
Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, the health and comfort of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objects of sustainability are to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, minimal waste, and create healthy, productive environments (“Sustainable Design”). Focusing primarily on the sustainable design principles, there are five, including: low-impact materials, energy efficiency, quality and durability, design for reuse and recycling, and renewability. As sustainability appears to become the necessary trend in architecture, the question concerning the cost versus outcome of “going green” really an investment or a waste of time and money comes to mind. With our research provided below, we believe the expenses may truly be with the investment in the end.
U.S. Department of State. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. . Alternative Energy - Wind, Solar, Hydro and Other Alt Energy Sources for Home Power.
Implementation of green concepts has been significant not only in design engineering but also in construction. Therefore the knowledge about green design has been a very important fact for the sustainable development in civil engineering. Concepts such as green buildings, carbon foot print, ecological foot print and LEED rating system have helped to achieve sustainable development for civil engineering