Have you heard about green buildings? If yes, what comes to your mind when picturing a green building? Most probably it would be a building with some green plants placed here and there, wouldn’t it? Is that all within the meaning of green building? Go ahead to find the answer!
The impact on the environment has increased with the increasing population and the development of the world. From design to construction and operation of a building, it consumes a lot of natural resources. The green buildings are designed with efficient use of energy, water and other resources, protection of occupant health, improvement of employee productivity, reduction of waste and pollution etc. Therefore, the concept of green building is not limited to the walls but includes site planning, community and land-use planning. This concept is very important for the sustainable development of the world.
Simply a green building can be described as a building that is designed in a way to protect the natural environment and to improve the quality of life as well. A green building is further defined as a building that, in its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on our climate and natural environment.
As the word ‘green building’ itself shows, they are eco-friendly having various benefits to the environment. Improving air and water quality, reducing waste streams, conserving and restoring natural resources, reducing the urban heat island effect, and enhancing biodiversity and ecosystems are some of those benefits. In addition to the environmental benefits, green buildings provide economic and social benefits. The economic benefits of green buildings are reducing operating costs, improving occupant productivity, and enhancing asset value and profits. There are social benefits such as enhancing occupant health and comfort, improving indoor and air quality and improving the overall quality of life. Most importantly green buildings fulfil 9 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) out of the 17 indicating the importance of having more green for a sustainable earth. However, there are still some hurdles such as the higher initial design and construction cost and lack of public awareness.
Figure 1: The green building concept
Sustainable building design relies on six fundamental principles. Optimizing site potential, optimizing energy use, efficient use and conserving water, optimizing building space and material use, enhancing indoor environmental quality and optimizing operational and maintenance practices. It is always considered to be more environmentally friendly through the whole process from planning the design to operation of the building under these principles. It does not matter whether it’s a school, an office, a shop, a hotel or even a hospital or any other type of structure. It can be a green building if it follows the above-mentioned principles. The methods which are used to follow these fundamental principles can be changed among countries depending on the climatic conditions, environmental, economic and social priorities, unique cultures and traditions, available technologies etc.
Who would not love to be in a city with more green and less pollution? Let’s always try to go green and make the city we live in, the city we love!
References:
https://www.greenbuilt.org/about/importance-of-green-building/
https://www.worldgbc.org/what-green-building
https://www.kmbdg.com/news/energy-engineering-company-sustainable-building-design/
Image courtesy:
Featured image – https://bit.ly/2Tk6SxW
Figure 1 – https://bit.ly/3hh8GQo