Green buildings are constructed using environmentally-friendly guidelines that preserve our natural resources while simultaneously helping reduce indoor air pollution linked to serious health concerns.
At Pro Building Systems, they use low maintenance materials that require less frequent painting or touching up, which helps keep maintenance costs lower while adding value to your property.
Energy Efficiency
Green buildings prioritize energy efficiency, using renewable sources of power to decrease their overall consumption while simultaneously minimizing waste. They employ various strategies such as occupancy sensors and daylight harvesting in order to reduce consumption as much as possible.
Construction projects using sustainable and non-toxic materials minimize their environmental footprint by recycling or reusing these items after use, further lessening environmental impacts.
Green building designs take into account factors like acoustic comfort, temperature comfort and natural ventilation systems to optimize occupant health and productivity while increasing tenant appeal due to reduced operating costs.
Water Efficiency
Green buildings utilize building design, construction and operation practices that minimize their environmental footprint by lowering carbon emissions and energy costs, conserving water, improving efficiency and prioritising safer materials – creating healthier environments for occupants.
Green building involves using solar, wind or geothermal energy sources to lower utility bills and emissions. Green buildings also incorporate energy efficient windows and lights; ENERGY STAR products; HVAC measures; rainwater harvesting technologies like greywater reuse as well as low flow toilets and shower heads into their design.
Green buildings tend to focus on water conservation given that 70% of Earth is covered by water. They may include appliances and technologies designed to save water, as well as landscaping that promotes soil and plant health so as to decrease irrigation needs.
Indoor Air Quality
Numerous factors affect indoor air quality, including building materials used, construction techniques employed and ventilation methods utilized. Green buildings typically employ more efficient and effective measures for maintaining healthy indoor air quality.
Sources of pollution include combustion byproducts from heating and cooking appliances and fireplaces, environmental tobacco smoke, cleaning products, paints and pesticides as well as volatile organic compounds from various household materials – in addition to naturally occurring factors like radon, mold growth and pet dander that contribute to an unpleasant feeling in our bodies.
Studies demonstrate the positive benefits of Green building certification features such as xeriscaping, high ventilation rates, non-toxic materials and the reduction of chemicals and toxins on indoor environments. Such changes can enhance cognitive performance while decreasing risks related to health concerns for occupants.
Materials
Green building materials contain lower levels of volatile organic compounds than their traditional counterparts and help create healthier indoor air environments. Furthermore, these green materials reduce waste through recycling or reclaiming methods and by using recycled and reclaimed materials such as concrete with reduced cement content or wood from sustainably harvested forests.
Innovations in green building materials are taking green building to new levels. Some new materials–such as bio-based cellulose insulation or mycelium–have even become carbon negative and absorb excess CO2 from the atmosphere during their lifespan.
Green buildings often prioritize using renewable energy sources like photovoltaic panels or solar water heating into their designs, while others make use of daylighting by positioning windows so as to take full advantage of natural lighting for both lighting and heating needs.
Transportation
Green buildings should provide convenient public transportation access in order to reduce occupant energy and water consumption. According to the Green Building Evaluation Standard, they must include at least one bus stop within 500 meters of their entrances.
Transportation costs of green buildings depend on numerous factors, including fixed asset investments in municipal transportation infrastructure, road surface area per capita, station number and interregional traffic network density.
Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) assess the environmental impacts of construction processes on the environment, such as energy use, global warming potential, resource use and pollution. An LCA provides an unbiased view of their environmental, social and economic consequences from conception through dismantling stages.
Environmental Impact
Green building involves reducing carbon emissions while conserving energy, water and materials. Furthermore, green buildings promote renewable energy sources while limiting waste disposal – including construction debris from demolition work.
Green buildings’ energy efficiency reduces greenhouse gas emissions and conserves already-strained natural resources, while improving occupant health by limiting airborne pollutants that have been linked with serious illnesses.
Many green buildings utilize renewable energy sources like solar and wind for power. Other environmental considerations for green buildings include site selection that avoids high risk natural disaster areas and managing rainwater runoff runoff. Occupants of green buildings reported lower sick building syndrome symptoms as well as greater satisfaction with ventilation, lighting and indoor air quality in one study.