Introduction of Green Building
While the definition of what constitutes a green building is constantly evolving, the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive offers a useful working definition. This agency defines this term as:
he practice of (1) increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use energy, water, and materials, and (2) reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal—the complete building life cycle.
Similarly, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines green building as follows:
he practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building‘s life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Green building is also known as a sustainable or high performance building.
Why does it matter?
- Takes an intelligent approach to energy
- Safeguards our water resources
- Minimises waste and maximises reuse
- Promotes health and well-being
- Keeps our landscape green
- Creates resilient and flexible structures
- Connects us
- Considers all stages of a building’s life-cycle
Fundamental Principles of Green Building
- Sustainable Site Design
- Water Quality and Conservation
- Energy and Environment
- Indoor Environmental Quality
- Materials and Resources
Green Building Materials
Green building materials are a rapidly developing and expanding sector of the construction materials market. What constitutes a ―green‖ material varies widely depending on the source. While no official government standard exists to provide definable guidelines, the Federal Trade Commission is working on such a plan. Meanwhile, the certification of green and/or sustainable building materials has been left to professional trade organizations. While each sector of the construction materials industry has its own or multiple sets of criteria, the common bond tends to be the U.S. Green Building Council‘s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines and standards. However, regardless of the source, the common elements that bind green material evaluation are very similar and include– production energy usage and waste, low toxicity/minimal emissions, recycled content/recyclability, locality of production, impact on indoor air quality, and affordability.
Flooring
- Rapidly Renewable Flooring
- “Waste” Based Flooring Options
Sustainable carpeting
Dimension Stone
Concrete
Recycled Steel
Natural Plaster
- A green roof, or rooftop garden, is a vegetative layer grown on a rooftop. Green roofs provide shade and remove heat from the air through evapotranspiration, reducing temperatures of the roof surface and the surrounding air. On hot summer days, the surface temperature of a green roof can be cooler than the air temperature, whereas the surface of a conventional rooftop can be up to 90°F (50°C) warmer.
- Reduced energy consumption without sacrificing the comfort levels (lower operational costs)
- Reduced water consumption
- Reduced system sizes (HVAC, transformers, cabling, etc.) for optimal performance at local conditions.
- Reduced investment (life cycle cost)
- Reduced destruction of natural areas, habitats, biodiversity, reduced soil loss from erosion etc.
- Reduced air and water pollution (with direct health benefits)
- Limited waste generation due to recycling and reuse
- Reduced pollution loads
- Increased user productivity
- Enhanced image and marketability
- LEED:-
- Effective in India from 1st Jan 2007
- Based on professional reference standards like NBC, ASHRAE, and ECBC etc.
- Assessment by 3rd party assessors & USGBC
- Voluntary, Consensus- based, Market driven
- Certification levels
- GRIHA - Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment:-
- GRIHA is India‘s National Rating System for Green buildings. It has been developed by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) and is endorsed by the MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy).
- It is based on nationally accepted energy and environmental principles, and seeks to strike a balance between established practices and emerging concepts, both national and international.
- GRIHA attempts to minimize a building‘s resource consumption, waste generation, and overall ecological/ environmental impact by comparing them to certain nationally acceptable limits / benchmarks.
- It does so, adopting the five "R" philosophy of sustainable development, namely
- Project scoring
50-60 points is certified as a 1 star GRIHA rated building,61-70 is a 2 star GRIHA rated building,71-80 is a 3 star GRIHA rating building,81-90 is a 4 star GRIHA rated building and91-100 is a 5 star GRIHA rated building
- IGBC:-
IGBC green new buildings rating system® addresses green features under the following categories: