Green buildings are structures constructed with nontoxic and ethical materials while protecting their surrounding environment, helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to global warming.
Green buildings employ sustainable strategies to conserve natural resources while improving occupant mental and physical wellbeing. Furthermore, they’re highly efficient – often saving their owners both energy and water bills!
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is one of the most popular green building practices, and many countries provide incentives to implement energy-saving measures. A new approach called life cycle assessment (LCA) helps avoid narrowly focused green building practices by considering all impacts from each stage of a building process – from energy usage and global warming potential through to material use and disposal costs.
Green buildings typically incorporate measures to lower energy use, such as solar water heating and passive design strategies, while taking advantage of renewable sources like solar or wind power.
Green construction may come at higher upfront costs, but savings on electricity and heating bills may offset these expenses. Tax credits may also help offset some expenses; plus green buildings typically have higher appraised values which makes reselling easier.
Water Efficiency
Green buildings are designed to reduce water waste. Features like low-flow toilets, greywater systems and xeriscaping (landscaping that requires minimal or no irrigation) help them do so; native and drought-tolerant plants also reduce irrigation needs.
Green buildings tend to be located close to existing services and transportation routes so occupants can walk or take public transit instead of driving their own car, helping minimize energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Some green building standards and rating systems also encourage quantification of externalities – costs or benefits not directly reflected in a product or service’s purchase price – such as wear and tear on local roads caused by buildings and environmental pollution they cause.
Materials
Green buildings employ materials that are either recycled and non-toxic or contain minimal VOCs; this reduces health risks for their occupants.
Green construction utilizes renewable resources such as solar or wind power to reduce energy intensive and pollutant heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. These may include ENERGY STAR products, solar or wind power and water saving technologies like graywater systems or rainwater capture.
Construction professionals often repurpose salvaged materials in order to reduce waste. Skanska Project Manager Jimmy Mitchell did just this with the Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech by using slate shingles and heart pine from storm-felled trees, saving both money and reducing environmental impact while simultaneously providing lower construction costs and providing unique aesthetic.
Indoor Air Quality
Green buildings prioritize healthy indoor air quality, but attaining robust IAQ standards can be expensive. Building owners can cut costs by working with experienced experts; hiring consultants will ensure the project is completed accurately and avoid expensive fixes in the future.
One way of improving IAQ in green buildings would be requiring or awarding credits for meeting health guidelines for specific pollutants, enabling occupants to focus more on exposure reduction instead of ventilation needs. This strategy could form the cornerstone of any green certification scheme.
Recent research compared IAQ in green and conventional buildings and found statistically significant differences for temperature, CO2 levels and formaldehyde. Occupants of green buildings reported less SBS symptoms than their counterparts in conventional buildings; however there was no difference among other pollutants.
Environmental Impact
Green buildings help minimize environmental footprint and preserve natural resources for future generations by employing eco-friendly materials, optimizing energy efficiency and using renewable water sources.
Reducing operating costs and utility bills, increasing occupancy levels and contributing to quality of life improvements for occupants also contribute to greater returns on investments and profits for owners.
Green buildings incorporate energy-efficient appliances, heating systems that use renewable fuels or solar power, water reuse for plumbing fixtures and irrigation, smart technologies like electrochromic glass and smart technologies such as rainwater harvesting to achieve low-carbon landscaping xeriscaping practices and rainwater harvesting rainwater harvesting rainwater harvesting as the core technology. LCA analyses take an holistic approach to sustainability by taking into account all impacts from construction through operation of buildings on their environment from construction through demolition such as carbon dioxide emissions resource use waste water pollution waste disposal etc.