Cause: Sustainable Architecture / Green Buildings
Sustainable architecture is a general term that describes environmentally conscious design techniques in the field of architecture. Sustainable architecture is framed by the larger discussion of sustainability and the pressing economic and political issues of our world. In the broad context, sustainable architecture seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by enhancing efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and development space. Most simply, the idea of sustainability, or ecological design, is to ensure that our actions and decisions today do not inhibit the opportunities of future generations. This term can be used to describe an energy and ecologically conscious approach to the design of the built environment.
The green building movement strives to create a permanent shift in prevailing design, planning, construction and operational practices toward lower-impact, more sustainable, and ultimately regenerative built environments. This transformation will never be complete, since green building is fundamentally a process of continual improvement. In this process, today’s “best practices” become tomorrow’s standard practices and the foundation for ever higher levels of performance.
Why is green building necessary?
The answer is rooted in the effects of conventional buildings and land use on people, the environment, and our shared natural resources. The cumulative impact of the design, construction, and operation of built environments has profound implications for human health, the environment and the economy. For example, with conventional development practices,
· Clearing of land for development often destroys wildlife habitat
· Extracting, manufacturing, and transporting materials contribute to the pollution of water and air, the release of toxic chemicals, and the emission of green house gasses.
· Building operations require large inputs of energy and water and generate sustainable waste streams; and
· Building-related transportation, such as commuting and services, contributes to a wide range of impacts associated with vehicle use, energy consumption, and harmful environmental effects.
North American Standards and Best Practices
The Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC) in association with the U.S Green Building Council (USGBC) is the nation’s foremost coalition of leaders for every sector of the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthful places to live and work. CaGBC / USGBC is a nonprofit organization whose members represent more than 15,000 organizations across the industry and include building owners and end users, real estate developers, facility managers, architects, designers, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, product and building system manufacturers, government agencies, and non profits. Green building professionals can join one of more than 78 regional chapters across North America that can provide green building resources, education, and networking opportunities.
CaGBC mission is to Lead and accelerate the transformation to high-performing, healthy green buildings, homes and communities throughout Canada.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating systems was created by USGBC to provide a framework for meeting sustainability goals and assessing building performance. Voluntary and consensus-based, LEED addresses all building types.
LEED is a third-party green building certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green building and neighborhoods. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in location and planning, sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality, innovative strategies, and attention to priority regional issues.
Conclusion
Modifying the conventional way in which homes, schools, offices, shopping centers, hospitals and cities are designed can have a beneficial effect on the environment. Green building practices can minimize human use of natural resources while generating economic benefits that include lower operational costs and higher human productivity. Green buildings are efficient and comfortable and they contain amenities needed for a better quality of life, including improved health.
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