Green Construction For Eco-Friendly Building Solutions

Green Construction, a building made from sustainable materials and renewable energy sources, creating a masterpiece to the finished product would be something Mother Nature would be proud to showcase in her collection of eco-friendly marvels.

So, let's dwell on the details of green construction and how it transforms building practices into a sustainable future.

What is Green Construction?

Green construction also known as green building or eco-friendly building refers to the principles and practices that aim to minimize the environmental impact of the built environment to maximize its survivability, and integrate with nature emphasizing sustainable materials, positive and negative energy efficiency, and aims to benefit both people and the planet.

With the rapid growth of industries worldwide, the construction industry is increasingly prominently adopting practices that not only mitigate their environmental impact but also ensure the long-term survivability of the built environment. We humans need shelter to live a life, schools to educate ourselves, workplaces for employment, and roads to drive on, of which some necessary construction can have an uncertain effect on the environment.

Green building is the answer and the call for the rapid growth of this industry, and it mainly focuses on achieving low consumption, environmental protection, economic viability, and optimizing the lifecycle of a building by ensuring that it provides good health and comfort. Also, they conserve resources such as energy, land, water, and materials and reduce pollution.

Principles of Green Construction:

1. Water conservative

The construction company is well known for the high amount of consumption of water. To be more sustainable operators have developed processes for maintaining it's sustainability during the building process. Some of the useful ways are emphasizing water consumption through the use of rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling, water fixtures, landscaping which requires minimal irrigation, and monitoring and enhancing the water use.

2. Energy productivity

This principle refers to the strategy and techniques used to utilize energy during building and maintenance of construction. Green buildings are designed to minimize energy consumption and maximize energy performance. This involves using insulations, lighting systems, heating, ventilating, and air conditioners, as well as renewable sources such as wind and solar power.

3. Recycling and Waste Reduction

The waste reduction principle refers to the process that controls waste during the construction of a project. The ‘demolish and start again’ ideology has unfortunately led to circular construction processes that are overlooked. Green buildings promote waste reduction through construction practices, recycling, reusing materials, and implementing proper waste management to dispose of the landfills.

4. Eco-Friendly materials

The use of environmentally friendly building materials chosen, created, and implemented to reduce environmental impact is one of the major aspects. This includes using reclaimed materials and opting for locally sourced materials.

5. Indoor Environment quality

The main aim is to prioritize the comfort and health of occupants by improving indoor air quality, using non-toxic and low-emission materials. This promotes the productivity and well-being of the occupants. Climate control is popular, but due to this natural ventilation is overlooked. The viability of natural ventilation will always be specific to a location, but numerous features can help with this. Some such include wind towers, solar chimneys, and much more.

6. Land uses

Consideration of the site's impact will be taken care of by green buildings. This includes analyses of the site's environmental footprint, such as its biodiversity, soil quality, and water resources. Controlling adverse impacts from construction activities, such as soil erosion and habitat disruption, is crucial. Moreover, combining green infrastructure, such as native landscaping and rainwater harvesting, strengthens the site's ecological resilience.

Benefits of Green Construction:

• By reducing energy consumption, energy costs will be saved
• Improved indoor air quality will have better concentrations and benefit the health of the occupants.
• Conservation of water resources
• Lower economic impact, such as decreased greenhouse gas effect.
• Increase in property value and market rate.
• Pollution and waste management reduction

Any building can be a green building, whether a home, a school, an office, a hospital, a community center, or any structure, provided it must include the features above.

Some Technologies Used in Green Construction:

1. The Zero Energy Buildings

They are constructed to operate independently of the electric grid. The "zero" refers to carbon emission and energy consumption- a zero-energy building consumes zero energy yearly and produces no carbon emission because it relies on renewable sources such as wind and solar energy. The buildings need power, so active solar panels and wind collectors are the common solution.

2. Smart Appliances

Current appliances are smarter than ever. Electronic shows perfectly illustrate the trend in these appliances. Smart meters are electric meters that gather real-time data and can communicate with devices to provide data. With this data, a few branded appliances such as LG can determine energy rates and automatically run when electric rates are at their lowest.

3. Electrochromic Smart Glass

Smart glass uses a small burst of electricity to charge ions on a window layer and this changes the amount of light. When low-emmitant windows block sun radiation which already exists, smart glass gives the ability to choose how much light you need to block. Currently, smart glass is being used for commercial use.

4. Solar Power

The more we depend on solar energy, the lesser the greenhouse gases we produce from used non-renewable energy sources. An active solar system provides more heat than a passive solar system. Solar panels absorb the sun's radiation and use the heat to warm air or water or cut down on gas.

5. Biodegradable Materials

Using recycled products is a good start to becoming eco-friendly, but products that naturally break down without releasing any hazardous substance onto Earth are even better. Outside the United States, hemp is used for construction. Hemp is a biodegradable structural material on the block.

Conclusion

The use of Green Building in our environment is mainly to lessen the operating costs, and energy units and conserve water. It decreases the environmental impact by minimizing the urban heat. Also, they play a vital role in the sustainable economy worldwide.

Looking forward, collaboration between government, communities, and industries is essential to adopt green building practices. Together, we can create thriving green economies, and build durable communities. Therefore, we can advocate for the growth of green building as a sustainable development, securing a sustainable future for the generations to come

Also explore: Building Tomorrow, Sustainably Today: Real Estate for a Greener Future