Introduction To Green Building


by Trev Verte - Date: 2007-04-11 - Word Count: 392 Share This!

Humanity has advanced in stunning ways in the last 100 years from a technology perspective. The advancements, however, have come with drawbacks. Green building is an approach that seeks to address some of those drawbacks.

Beginning with the industrial revolution, we started to consume massive amounts of natural resources. A byproduct of such consumption, of course, is waste. The more we use, the more we produce.

On an indirect level, we have known about the costs of wastes for some time. While greenhouse gases are all the rage these days, we already have address our waste issues. From the ozone depletion issue to smog in our cities, the impact of our consumption has been apparent.

The world is currently heating up and we are seeing the results of this in many ways. The reduction of the ice caps is the most obvious. The slowing of the ocean conveyor is the most serious. Together, all of this comes under the mantle of global warming.

As you know, there is a great debate about climate change. Many people think it is over whether climate change exists. This is incorrect. The question is the cause of the heating of the planet. As the ice caps melt, the question is whether we are the cause.

The consensus seems to be yes. So, what do we do? Well, there are no easy fixes. Many businesses, however, are beginning to consider approaches that are more environmentally friendly. Green building is one of them.

Just what is green building? Is it some hippie concept? Nope. It is the idea of building efficient energy structures while minimizing environmental impact. This can be for housing or large building such as The Solaire in New York City.

Efficiency is about low energy control. Many green buildings filter their air through plant life. They recycle their water. They use recycled materials for building elements from newspapers for insulation to steel from demolished structures.

From a design perspective, green construction philosophy involves incorporating renewable energy platforms. These can include solar panels to provide electricity, strategic plant placement to filter air and the use of opening windows instead of air conditioning.

There is little argument that green building is a new concept and thus still struggling to become a standard. That being said, the fact that individual and large businesses are looking to it is a good sign. Perhaps we are turning a corner.

Related Tags: environment, global warming, society, construction, climate change, green building

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