Green Building

Green Building

Green Building is the practice of designing, constructing and operating buildings to:

  • Use energy, water and other resources efficiently
  • Reduce waste, pollution and other negative impacts on environment
  • Maximize occupant health and productivity
  • Decrease life cycle costs

Green building represents one of the most significant opportunities for sustainable growth at both national and global level. It should be fully realized that:

  • The design of our homes plays an essential role in the quality of our lives, comfort level and health.
  • The design of our schools has a lifelong impact on our children who study in them, in terms of influencing students’ attention and health.
  • The design of our workplaces influences employee productivity and health and the business success of our companies.
  • The design of our hospitals has an impact on patients’ recovery period and overheads in healthcare institutions.
  • The design of our cities and communities strongly defines their economic and social dynamics.

Green building is perhaps best understood as a convergence of two movements:
(1) an architectural movement emphasizing environment conscious, integrated, efficient and innovative design, and
(2) an environmental movement arising from the principles of sustainable development.

Represents an intelligent approach to energy

Green building encourages setting energy goals and target from the start of the project, taking advantages of building site and climate attributes to reduce heating, cooling and lighting loads, integrating landscape design for shading and windbreaks, facilitating the use of public transport, incorporating renewable energy where possible, etc.

Protects our water resources

Green building tries to reduce water use and protect its quality, by using water efficient fittings and fixtures. Other technologies such as rain water harvesting, recycling and reuse of grey water, etc. are also being used.

Reduces waste and pollution

Waste minimization requires careful planning throughout the design, build and occupancy phases. Green building minimizes negative impacts on the environment by “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” strategies. For example, by reducing impervious area, we reduce stormwater runoff and reduce surface temperature. Reusing previously developed sites or existing structures is one of the best ways to limit the negative impacts of development. And certainly, there are a myriad of opportunities for recycled materials use in site development.

Promotes health and well-being of all building users

Green building emphasizes on providing adequate supply of fresh air throughout the building premises, which is achieved by good ventilation which maintains high indoor air quality, and avoidance of materials and chemicals that can cause emissions of harmful gases.

It encourages extensive use of natural light to illuminate rooms and makes sure that their occupants have a nice view of the surrounding environment, which not only provides the building users with great amount of comfort and a possibility to enjoy the surroundings, but also reduces the need for artificial room lighting.

It is a design that “appeals to both eyes and ears”. In fact, when it comes to schools, health care institutions, private homes and workplaces, acoustics and sound insulation play an important role in providing an ambiance that is good for concentration, recovery as well as for enjoying work and spending time in one’s own home.

By providing a pleasant indoor temperature, it contributes to the creation of a good atmosphere and a pleasant microclimate in rooms where people spend most of their time. Humidity control and air movement control are all important for keeping thermal comfort, but also the biggest consumers of energy. Green building encourages the use of passive cooling through proper use of shading and natural ventilation, or simple but effective equipment such as ceiling fans.

Keeps our landscape green

Particular attention is paid to site selection, preservation of existing vegetation or the addition of vegetated area during green building design. Vegetation can reduce heating and cooling needs, clean the air and reduce heat island effects, among other benefits.

Connects us

As early as at the design stage of a building, thought is given to shortening the distance between people’s homes and workplaces or other social locations, which results in a reduced environmental impact of personal vehicles as well as of road and rail traffic in general. Green building encourages the use of environmentally friendly means of transport, such as bicycles and other green transport modes.

Looks at the costs of a building over its entire lifecycle

Green building considers costs over the entire life of the building, whereas conventional building is often focused on initial design and construction costs.