Green building is the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and

harvest energy, water, and materials, and reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal the complete building life cycle. Green building is also sometimes known as sustainable building or environmental building, although there are slight differences in the definitions. The practice of green building can lead to benefits including reduced operating costs by increasing productivity and using less energy and water, improved public and occupant health due to improved indoor air quality, and reduced environmental impacts by, for example, lessening storm water runoff and the heat island effect. Green building is an essential component of the related concepts of sustainable design, sustainable development and general sustainability.

Practitioners of green building often seek to achieve not only ecological but aesthetic harmony between a structure and its surrounding natural and built environment. The appearance and style of sustainable homes and buildings can be nearly indistinguishable from their less sustainable counter-parts. Green building and Natural building
Green building and natural building are both sets of building techniques that aim to be more sustainable than conventional construction. However, there is a difference in degree of sustainability. n practice, green building tends to be popular with professionals in the development industry who are convinced that building more sustainably is not only necessary to lessen impact on the environment, but also makes good economic sense. Green building is increasingly governed by standards, such as the !eadership in "nergy and "nvironmental #esign $!""#% standards developed by the &.'. Green (uilding )ouncil. *atural building, on the other hand, tends to focus on the use of natural materials that are available locally. t is usually on a smaller scale and tends to be more sustainable.+,-

[edit] Green architecture

Main article: Green architecture The focus of green architecture is for the pro.ect to work in harmony with the natural features and resources surrounding the site, and to use materials that are sustainably grown or recycled rather than new materials from non/renewable resources.

(uilding materials may be sought within a 011/mile radius of the building site to minimi2e the use of fuel for transportation. The building itself may be oriented a particular direction to take advantage of naturally occurring features such as wind direction and angle of the sun. 3hen possible, building materials may be gleaned from the site itself4 for example, if a new structure is being constructed in a wooded area, wood from the trees which were cut to make room for the building would be re/used as part of the building itself. Taking advantage of available natural light reduces dependence on artificial $energy/using% light sources. 3ell/insulated windows, doors, and walls help reduce energy loss, thereby reducing energy usage. !ow/impact building materials are used wherever feasible5 for example, insulation may be made from low 67) $volatile organic compound%/emitting materials such as recycled denim, rather than the fiberglass insulation which is dangerous to breathe. To discourage insect damage, the insulation may be treated with boric acid. 7rganic or milk/based paints may be used. 8rchitectural salvage and reclaimed materials are used when appropriate as well. 3hen older buildings are demolished, frequently any good wood is reclaimed, renewed, and sold as flooring. 9any other parts are reused as well, such as doors, windows, mantels, and hardware, thus reducing the consumption of new goods. 3hen new materials are employed, green designers look for materials that are rapidly replenished, such as bamboo, which can be harvested for commercial use after only : years of growth, or cork oak, in which only the outer bark is removed for use, thus preserving the tree. Good green architecture also reduces waste, of both energy and material. #uring construction phase, the goal is to reduce the amount of material going to landfills. 3ell designed buildings also help reduce the amount of waste generated by the occupants as well, by providing onsite solutions such as compost bins to reduce matter going to landfills. To reduce the impact on wells or water treatments plants, several options exist. ;Greywater;, wastewater from sources such as dishwashing or washing machines, can be used to flush toilets, water lawns, and wash cars. <ainwater collectors are used for similar purposes, and some homes use specially designed rainwater collectors to gather rainwater for all water use, including drinking water. Green architecture often emphasi2es 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. 9any other techniques, such as using packed gravel for parking lots instead of concrete or asphalt to enhance replenishment of ground water, are used as well.

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Sustainable design
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
?ump to5 navigation, search ustainable design $also referred to as ;green design;, ;eco/design;, or ;design for environment;% is the art of designing physical ob.ects to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability. t ranges from the microcosm of designing small ob.ects for everyday use, through to the macrocosm of designing buildings, cities, and the earth@s physical surface. t is a growing trend within the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, industrial design and interior design. The essential aim of sustainable design is to produce places, products and services in a way that reduces use of non/renewable resources, minimi2es environmental impact, and relates people with the natural environment. 'ustainable design is often viewed as a necessary tool for achieving sustainability. t is related to the more heavy/industry/ focused fields of industrial ecology and green chemistry, sharing tools such as life cycle assessment and life cycle energy analysis to .udge the environmental impact or ;greenness; of various design choices. 'ustainable design is a reaction to the global ;environmental crisis;, i.e., rapid growth of economic activity and human population, depletion of natural resources, damage to ecosystems and loss of biodiversity. +,- Aroponents of sustainable design believe that the crisis is in large part caused by conventional design and industrial practices, which disregard the risks and environmental impacts associated with goods and services. Green design is considered a means of reducing or eliminating these impacts while maintaining quality of life by using careful assessment and clever design to substitute less harmful products and processes for conventional ones. The motivation for sustainable design was articulated famously in ". B. 'chumacher@s ,CDE book 'mall is (eautiful. Binally, green design is not the attachment or supplement of architectural design, but an integrated design process with the architectural design.

Principles of sustainable design

3hile the practical application varies among disciplines, some common prinicples are as follows5

!ow/impact materials5 choose non/toxic, sustainably/produced or recycled materials which require little energy to process "nergy efficiency5 use manufacturing processes and produce products which require less energy

Fuality and durability5 longer/lasting and better/functioning products will have to be replaced less frequently, reducing the impacts of producing replacements #esign for reuse and recycling5 ;Aroducts, processes, and systems should be designed for performance in a commercial @afterlife@.;+E(iomimicry5 ;redesigning industrial systems on biological lines ... enabling the constant reuse of materials in continuous closed cycles...;+G'ervice substitution5 shifting the mode of consumption from personal ownership of products to provision of services which provide similar functions, e.g. from a private automobile to a carsharing service. 'uch a system promotes minimal resource use per unit of consumption $e.g., per trip driven%.+0'tandardi2ation and modularity5 standard, modular parts allow products to be repaired rather than replaced and promote interoperability so that systems can be upgraded incrementally rather than wholly scrapped and replaced.

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