GREEN BUILDING's: A OVER VIEW

Definition of Green Building:

"A green building uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste and is healthier for the people living inside compared to a standard building”.

Green Building Basics:

Building "green" is an opportunity to use our resources in an efficient manner while creating healthier buildings that improve health, build a better environment, and most important of all provide cost savings.

What is Green Building?

A green building, also known as a sustainable building, is a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. Green buildings are designed to meet certain objectives such as protecting occupant health, improving productivity, efficient use of energy, water, and other resources more efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to the environment which is most important.

Benefits of Green Buildings?

A green building may initially cost more up front, but saves through lower operating costs over the life of the building. The green building approach applies a project life cycle cost analysis for determining the appropriate up-front expenditure. This analytical method calculates costs over the useful life of the asset.

These and other cost savings can only be fully realized when they are incorporated at the project's conceptual design phase with the assistance of an integrated team of professionals. The integrated systems approach ensures that the building is designed as one system rather than a collection of stand-alone systems.

Some benefits, such as improving occupant health, comfort, productivity, reducing pollution and landfill waste are not easily quantified. Consequently, they are not adequately considered in cost analysis. For this reason, consider setting aside a small portion of the building budget to cover differential costs associated with less tangible green building benefits or to cover the cost of researching and analyzing green building options.

Even with a tight budget, many green building measures can be incorporated with minimal or zero increased up-front costs and they can yield enormous savings

Green building materials:

Building materials typically considered to be 'green' include rapidly renewable plant materials like bamboo and straw, lumber from forests certified to be sustain ably managed, dimension stone, recycled stone, recycled metal, and other products that are non-toxic, reusable, renewable, and/or recyclable (eg Trass, Linoleum, sheep wool, panels made from paper flakes, baked earth, rammed earth, clay, vermiculite, flax linen, sisal, sea grass, cork, expanded clay grains, coconut, wood fiber plates, calcium sand stone. Building materials should be extracted and manufactured locally to the building site to minimize the energy embedded in their transportation.

Principles of Green Architecture:

EPrinciples of Green Architecture: Energy Efficiency

• Design passive solar energy facilities use energy efficient appliances, solar panels and heat pump technology

• Use of computer sensor controlled energy saving devices; like automatic dimmers for lighting and occupancy sensors to adjust air-conditioning automatically

• centralized plumbing, insulate cold/hot water piping

• Using energy saving lighting like CFL

• Install Monitor Power Management Software

• Use of low power computers

Principles of Green Architecture: Water Conservation

• collect rainwater for external use i.e. garden/washing car

• use water conserving appliances including toilets, shower, taps, washing machine and dish washer eg. Low flow faucets, water saving dual flush tanks

• reduce irrigation and surface water run-off

Principles of Green Architecture: Low Environmental Impact

• include water permeable landscape features

• enhance native bush and create edible gardens

• establish home recycling bins and garden composting.

Principles of Green Architecture: Building Materials

• Certified Wood - Specify wood from certified sustain ably managed forests.

• select low volatile organic compounds (VOC) and toxic-free paints, finishes and adhesives

• use materials that permit the building membrane to 'breathe'

• apply natural floor surfaces such as tile, timber and linoleum

• use sustainable solid timbers rather than processed composite sheet materials

• use inert gypsum-based wall and ceiling linings.

• Rapidly Renewable Materials such as straw, bamboo and some woods

Principles of Green Architecture: Sustainability

• think globally -act locally

• reduce CO2 production, ozone and resource depletion, rainforest destruction and erosion

• encourage environmentally-friendly technologies and sustainable solutions

Principles of Green Architecture: Waste Reduction

• select materials using recycled components

• Design for re-use and recycling

• control and reduce waste and packaging

• reduce resource consumption.

Principles of Green Architecture: Health and Wellbeing

• meet the basic physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the occupants

• consider healthy lighting, colors and sound, controlled temperature and humidity and good indoor air quality to enhance the living environment

• reduce formaldehyde emissions and use pollution fighting indoor plants

• create an asthma aware home i.e. no fitted carpets, reduced ledges, low-allergen gardens

• apply an integrated wiring system for lighting, power, security, fire alarm and audio facilities

• design a safe and user-friendly space

Principles of Green Architecture: Economic Performance

• consider maintenance of the space plus initial 'running costs' pay-back period

• strive for a balance between ecological integrity and economic viability.

Principles of Green Architecture: Community Support

• use local resources, skills, labor, crafts and art

• consider local facilities and utilities

Points for a Green office:

1. Open plan

2. Big atrium

3. Communal desks for multiple users

4. Terra cotta Floor tiles and fly ash bricks are eco-friendly

5. Clear, white walls, eco-paints

6. Large, well-insulated double glazed windows, with solar shades

7. Solar panels

8. Windmill

9. Low-energy computers

Typical Energy Saving Approach in Buildings:

• Minimize exposure on the south and west
• Use simulation tools and techniques which can help in designing the orientation to minimize heat ingress and enhance energy efficiency.

Equipment & systems:

• Select chillers with high Coefficient of Performance (CoP).
• Install Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) for supply &return air fans and pumps.
• Select high efficiency cooling towers.
• Use high efficiency motors, transformers and pumps.
• Install Heat recovery wheels and economizers.
• Consider night purging with ambient air to flush out the heat trapped within the building during the day.
• Adopt Controls & Building Management Systems for effective control.
• Engage a Commissioning Authority to ensure that savings are realized once the building becomes operational.

Lighting:

• Design in such a way that the building gets maximum day lighting.
• Overall lighting power density can be designed as less as 1.0 W/sq.ft.
• Use daylight-cum-dimmer controls
• Install occupancy sensors
• Select energy efficient luminaries like CFL, T-5, LED, etc.

Water Efficiency:

Design for dual plumbing to use recycled water for toilet flushing or a gray water system that recovers rainwater or other nonpotable water for site irrigation.

Minimize wastewater by using ultra low-flush toilets, low-flow shower heads, and other water conserving fixtures.

Use recirculation systems for centralized hot water distribution.

Install point-of-use hot water heating systems for more distant locations.

Use a water budget approach that schedules irrigation using the California Irrigation Management Information System data for landscaping.

Meter the landscape separately from buildings. Use micro-irrigation (which excludes sprinklers and high-pressure sprayers) to supply water in nonturf areas.

Use state-of-the-art irrigation controllers and self-closing nozzles on hoses.

Building Operation and Maintenance:

Green building measures cannot achieve their goals unless they work as intended. Building commissioning includes testing and adjusting the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems to ensure that all equipment meets design criteria. It also includes instructing the staff on the operation and maintenance of equipment.

Over time, building performance can be assured through measurement, adjustment, and upgrading. Proper maintenance ensures that a building continues to perform as designed and commissioned.