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GREEN BUILDING
 GREEN BUILDING
  Refers to a structure and using process that is environmentally responsible and resource
efficient throughout a building’s life cycle: from sitting to design, construction, operation,
maintenance, re novation, and demolition.
  Green building – also known as sustainable or high performance building increases the
efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy, water, and materials.
 GREEN BUILDING CONCEPT
  The ‘GREEN BUILDING’ concept is gaining importance in various countries, including India.
These are buildings that ensure waste is minimized at every stage during the construction
and operation of the building, resulting in low costs, according to experts in technology.
  A Green building is a structure that is environmentally responsible and resource efficient
throughout its life cycle.
 OBJECTIVE
 Green building is designed to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human
health and the natural environment by:
  Efficiently using energy, water and other resources.
  Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity.
  Reducing waste, pollution and environment degradation.
 Goals of green building
  Green building brings together a vast array of practices and techniques to reduce and
ultimately eliminate the impacts of buildings on the environment and human health. It often
emphasizes taking advantage of renewable resources, e.g., using sunlight through passive
solar, active solar, and photovoltaic techniques and using plants and trees through green
roofs, rain gardens, and for reduction of rainwater run- off. Many other techniques, such as
using packed gravel or permeable concrete instead of conventional concrete or asphalt to
enhance replenishment of ground water, are used as well.
  Fundamental principles:
 Structure Design Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Materials Efficiency, Indoor
Environmental Quality Enhancement, Operations and Maintenance Optimization, and
Waste and Toxics Reduction
 Structure design efficiency
  The foundation of any construction project is rooted in the concept and design stages. The
concept stage, in fact, is one of the major steps in a project life cycle, as it has the largest
impact on cost and performance. In designing environmentally optimal buildings, the
objective is to minimize the total environmental impact associated with all life-cycle stages
of the building project. However, building as a process is not as streamlined as an industrial
process, and varies from one building to the other, never repeating itself identically. In
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addition, buildings are much more complex products, composed of a multitude of materials
and components each constituting various design variables to be decided at the design
stage. A variation of every design variable may affect the environment during all the
buildings relevant life-cycle stages.
 Energy efficiency
  To reduce operating energy use, high-efficiency windows and insulation in walls, ceilings,
and floors increase the efficiency of the building envelope, (the barrier between conditioned
and unconditioned space). Another strategy, passive solar building design, is often
implemented in low-energy homes. Designers orient windows and walls and place awnings,
porches, and trees to shade windows and roofs during the summer while maximizing solar
gain in the winter. In addition, effective window placement (day lighting) can provide more
natural light and lessen the need for electric lighting during the day. Solar water heating
further reduces energy costs.
  Onsite generation of renewable energy through solar power, wind power, hydro power,
or biomass can significantly reduce the environmental impact of the building. Power
generation is generally the most expensive feature to add to a building.
 Water efficiency
  Reducing water consumption and protecting water quality are key objectives in
sustainable building. One critical issue of water consumption is that in many areas, the
demands on the supplying aquifer exceed its ability to replenish itself. To the maximum
extent feasible, facilities should increase their dependence on water that is collected, used,
purified, and reused on-site. The protection and conservation of water throughout the life
of a building may be accomplished by designing for dual plumbing that recycles water in
toilet flushing. Waste-water may be minimized by utilizing water conserving fixtures such as
ultra-low flush toilets and low- flow shower heads. Bidets help eliminate the use of toilet
paper, reducing sewer traffic and increasing possibilities of re-using water on-site. Point of
use water treatment and heating improves both water quality and energy efficiency while
reducing the amount of water in circulation. The use of non-sewage and greywater for on-
site use such as site-irrigation will minimize demands on the local aquifer.
 Materials efficiency
  Green building materials are composed of renewable, rather than non-renewable
resources. Green materials are environmentally responsible because impacts are considered
over the life of the product. Depending upon project-specific goals, an assessment of green
materials may involve an evaluation of one or more of the criteria listed below.
  Green building material/product selection criteria: Resource efficiency Indoor air quality
Energy Efficiency Water Conservation Affordability
 Resource Efficiency
  Recycled Content: Products with identifiable recycled content, including post-industrial
content with a preference for post-consumer content.
  Resource efficient manufacturing process: Products manufactured with resource-efficient
processes including reducing energy consumption, minimizing waste (recycled, recyclable
and or source reduced product packaging), and reducing greenhouse gases.
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  Locally available: Building materials, components, and systems found locally or regionally
saving energy and resources in transportation to the project site.
  Durable: Materials that are longer lasting or are comparable to conventional products with
long life expectancies.
 Indoor environmental quality enhancement
  Indoor Air Quality seeks to reduce volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, and other air
impurities such as microbial contaminants. Buildings rely on a properly designed ventilation
system (passively/naturally- or mechanically-powered) to provide adequate ventilation of
cleaner air from outdoors or recirculated, filtered air as well as isolated operations (kitchens,
dry cleaners, etc.) from other occupancies.
  Low or non-toxic: Materials that emit few or no carcinogens, reproductive toxicants, or
irritants as demonstrated by the manufacturer through appropriate testing.
  Moisture resistant: Products and systems that resist moisture or inhibit the growth of
biological contaminants in buildings.
  Systems or equipment: Products that promote healthy IAQ by identifying indoor air
pollutants or enhancing the air quality.
 Operations and maintenance optimization
  No matter how sustainable a building may have been in its design and construction, it can
only remain so if it is operated responsibly and maintained properly. Every aspect of green
building is integrated into the O&M phase of a Ensuring operations and maintenance(O&M)
personnel are part of the projects planning and development process will help retain the
green criteria designed at the onset of the project buildings life. The addition of new green
technologies also falls on the O&M staff. Although the goal of waste reduction may be
applied during the design, construction and demolition phases of a buildings life-cycle, it is
in the O&M phase that green practices such as recycling and air quality enhancement take
place
 Waste reduction
  Green architecture also seeks to reduce waste of energy, water and materials used during
construction. For example, in California nearly 60% of the state’s waste comes from
commercial buildings. During the construction phase, one goal should be to reduce the
amount of material going to landfills. Well-designed buildings also help reduce the amount
of waste generated by the occupants as well, by providing on-site solutions such as compost
bins to reduce matter going to landfills.
  To reduce the impact on wells or water treatment plants, several options exist.
"Greywater", wastewater from sources such as dishwashing or washing machines, can be
used for subsurface irrigation, or if treated, for non-potable purposes, e.g., to flush toilets
and wash cars. Rainwater collectors are used for similar purposes.
  Centralized wastewater treatment systems can be costly and use a lot of energy. An
alternative to this process is converting waste and wastewater into fertilizer, which avoids
these costs and shows other benefits.

SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE AND ENVIRONMENT – NOTES, LIMA M.T.