Green Buildings

The design, construction, and maintenance of buildings has a tremendous impact on our environment and our natural resources. These buildings together use one-third of all the energy consumed, and two-thirds of all electricity.  By the year 2010, another buildings are expected to be constructed.  The challenge will be to build them smart, so they use a minimum of nonrenewable energy, produce a minimum of pollution, and cost a minimum of energy dollars, while increasing the comfort, health, and safety of the people who live and work in them. 

Further, buildings are a major source of the pollution that causes urban air quality problems, and the pollutants that cause climate change.  They account for 49 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions, 25 percent of nitrous oxide emissions, and 10 percent of particulate emissions, all of which damage urban air quality.  Buildings produce 35 percent of our carbon dioxide emissions, the chief pollutant blamed for climate change. 

Traditional building practices often overlook the interrelationships between a building, its components, its surroundings, and its occupants. "Typical" buildings consume more of our resources than necessary, negatively impact the environment, and generate a large amount of waste. According to Laurence Doxsey, a specialist, "a standard wood-framed home consumes over one acre of forest and the waste created during construction averages from 3 to 7 tons."  Often, these buildings are costly to operate in terms of energy and water consumption.  And they can result in poor indoor air quality, which can lead to health problems.   

There are many opportunities to make buildings cleaner.  For example, if only 10 percent of homes used solar water-heating systems, we would avoid tons of carbon emissions each year.  

Green building practices offer an opportunity to create environmentally-sound and resource-efficient buildings by using an integrated approach to design. Green buildings promote resource conservation, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water conservation features; consider environmental impacts and waste minimization; create a healthy and comfortable environment; reduce operation and maintenance costs; and address issues such as historical preservation, access to public transportation and other community infrastructure systems. The entire life-cycle of the building and its components is considered, as well as the economic and environmental impact and performance.

Community Green Building Programs

Green building is becoming more widespread both as a solution to specific building-related problems, and as a means of working toward a sustainable future. Community green building programs such are making great strides toward promoting public acceptance of green building and its benefits, as well as encouraging builders to adopt green building practices. 

Green Buildings -- Affordable Housing

In addition to being less harmful to the environment, creating healthy indoor air quality, and utilizing renewable resources, green building technologies can be affordable. Houses that are energy-efficient, for example, use less energy than their conventional counterparts, which makes them more affordable to lower-income families. Smaller designs and alternative and salvaged building products rely less on precious resources and can cost less than traditional approaches.

Alternative Building Techniques and Products

Some approaches to building use fewer virgin products and make more efficient use of natural resources. For example, technologies using straw-bale and rammed earth as building components rely less on timber products. Co-housing also uses fewer timber products because common areas such as kitchens and play areas are built as "shared living areas" to be used by all residents. Manufactured housing is a less-expensive alternative to custom, site-built homes. There are also a host of materials that include recycled-product content that can be more affordable than conventional products and at the same time help reduce the amount of waste deposited in landfills.