Introduction
Green buildings or high-performance buildings incorporate design and construction standards that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impacts of the building on the environment and occupants. Green buildings essential elements of focus include sustainable site, safeguarding water and its sources, energy conservation, conservation of materials and indoor environmental quality.
Property developers are beginning to understand that it is possible to build green buildings on a usual budget. As such, the need to develop green buildings is on the rise. Constructors and property owners are now extending green buildings to large residential homes, industrial and commercial buildings.
At the same time, they take advantages of the new modeling tools, regulatory incentives, design techniques and wise financial spending. The growth occurs as a result of companies and individuals who are seeking spaces that respect their values and lifestyles. Green buildings go a long way in fulfilling these needs (Yudelson, 2007).
The concept of green buildings emanated as a response to human activities in altering the global climate. Most of the carbon dioxide emissions causing global warming come from buildings. Environmentalists blame developed nations for emitting much of the world’s carbon dioxide responsible for global warming.
However, the concerted efforts to adopt green buildings are most likely to change this trend. Observers predict much development in emerging nations, which will increase the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The focus should now shift to energy efficient and green buildings.
Otherwise, we do not have many options in tackling global warming. Several countries are economically going to benefit by embracing green technologies and carbon reduction technologies, processes and systems.
We must understand that there are lots of literature and debates concerning green buildings. The information usually concerns social and economic issues. People who prefer to embrace environmental friendly involvements often meet greenwash activities.
Studies in green buildings and environmental issues tend to give a full picture of what exactly are green and in what context. Critics ask whether the materials in use are also green or how green are the buildings. The resources are useful in terms of provide regulation of buildings, components of green buildings, selection of green materials and where to purchase such materials.
There criteria a building must pass so as to qualify as a green building. The essential element is its impacts on the environment. Designers must evaluate all the constituent parts so as to enable users to make informed choices about the buildings’ impacts on the environment.
People who operate in commercial buildings tend to refer to such buildings as environmental friendly buildings. Still, others call them high-performance buildings.
Participants in the building construction, design and real estate have embraced sustainable designs as landmark development in the careers and businesses. At the same time, changes in global temperatures have forced people to fight for environmental protection and reduce energy consumptions in buildings. Today, water is becoming a scarce resource as its consumption continues to rise.
Studies show that, between the year 1990 and 2000, the usage of water rose by 12 per cent (The U.S. Green Building Council, 2009). Water supply serves purposes of domestic, industrial, commercial, agricultural and other purposes. The high demand for water is straining its sources leading to massive withdrawals and reduction.
Developers have noticed the need to involve the communities. They believe that a genuine concern for the environment must involve the community from the grassroots levels for meaningful changes. Using large quantities of water increase the maintenance and life-cycle costs for building operations, and additional costs on the occupants.
Conversely, buildings that employ the efficient use of water reduce costs through lower service charges, reduction in energy and chemical use, and discharges. This paper shall focus on green buildings or high-performance buildings and their waters consumptions and efficiency processes.
Green buildings and water efficiency
Observing water usage and performance are the first steps in understanding water wastage. Water and energy use relate to each other. This can help decision-makers to decide on overall efficiency. Individuals and organizations that can monitor water and energy usage can take these advantages to create greener and sustainable buildings (Wilson, 2006).
People should find ways to minimize indoor potable water usage. This involves using alternative water sources for non-potable uses. Installation of buildings components such as water-efficient fixtures, flow restrictors, composting toilets, and waterless urinals to minimize water usage.
Lowering water usage in showerheads, faucets will reduce the total amount of water users withdraw from natural resources and other water bodies. This method is efficient and effective in large commercial buildings that require much water for their occupants, workers and visitors (Spiegel and Meadows, 2011).
Saving water usually results into saving energy as well, which is leading to environmental well-being. Water efficiencies in green buildings result into reducing the amount of water for treatments, cooling, heating and distributions for potable use. These aspects require energy, of which if reduced, will result into costs savings and clean environment, through less energy consumptions.
Engaging in water conservation improves both human and environmental well-being. The looming water shortages in the leading cities are raising alarm among water suppliers and environmentalists. Water reservoirs and underground water are facing depletion. This will affect both the human and environmental well-being.
This is because low water levels can improve the concentrations of environmental pollutants. Green buildings attempt to improve water efficiencies by keeping it at safe levels. Users can also derive benefits from discharge of used water.
This is because there are costs, energy usage and materials inputs for treatments of used water. This is particularly vital in public facilities, which have high discharge rates.
In the US, water usage in landscaping is increasing at a massive rate. Observers consider landscaping as an outdoor water use that consumes large quantities of water. People should improve on landscaping activities and adopt best practices, which will reduce or even eliminate irrigations needs for landscaping.
Green buildings are reestablishing native plants to foster self-sustaining landscaping practices. This is because such plants require less water in irrigation, and provide other environmental benefits. Green buildings tend to look so natural in a natural habitat.
Native plants also require small quantities of fertilizers and treatment chemicals. These benefits reduce environmental degradation and other unwanted environmental impacts.
Outdoor water usage has created the concept of Xeriscaping. This term denotes water conservation in landscaping. The term refers to dry or natural landscaping. Xeriscaping applies techniques of selecting suitable plant types and planting methods which reduces or eliminates water except for normal use.
This method tries to minimize the negative environmental impacts of landscaping. Environmental consciousness and the need for green buildings have resulted into popularity of xeriscaping among property developers and landscape architects. Green buildings require temporary irrigation for the first year till the plants become well formed.
Xeriscaping also combines plants with similar water requirements. Landscaping architects do not normally xeriscaping in areas with abundant rainfalls. Therefore, the initial step to involve xeriscaping involves the evaluation of the site in terms of rain, sun, wind, existing vegetation, direction of orientation, topography and soil.
Landscaping architects should carefully choose the plants with regard to their various needs such as water requirements, sun tolerance, shelter and food requirements, including plants value to the natural surroundings. Once the plants have established themselves, nature takes control (The U.S. Green Building Council, 2009).
Records indicate that urinals consume more than 150 billion gallons of fresh water per year. Designers of green buildings are venturing into designing of water-free urinals. These designs have oil seals below the drain. These prevent sewer gases from rising up.
The system eliminates the need for flushing water to prevent the smell in the urinal. The pleasant-smelling seal has to be changed periodically to provide an airtight barrier between the urine and the restroom, thus preventing odor from escaping the drain. Sealant allows urine to pass through because it is lighter than the urine.
Urine flows to the drainage and uric sediments get collected by the cartridges. The result is an odor-free environment with clean pipes and no wastage of water at all. Water-free urinals are useful in places where large volumes of water are in use, such as public toilets, hotels, schools, stadiums among others.
Water-free urinals require proper design, installation and regular maintenance, drastically reduce water consumptions in green buildings by significant quantities. The future needs of water-free urinals will lead to less demand for water, sewerage infrastructure developments, and energy (Foster, Stelmack, and Hindman, 2006).
Green buildings have water-free urinals installed. The installations pay for themselves through savings in water costs, and energy consumptions. Examples of buildings with water-free urinals include Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach, among others.
Green buildings have concerted efforts to construct wetlands which are part of storm water management and sewerage treatment solutions. Constructed wetlands hold storm water, and use treated sewage to supply nutrients to aquatic lives.
The idea of constructed wetlands as part of green buildings, is beneficial in terms of provisions of nutrients, provision of shelter, elimination sediments, heavy metals, oil, grease, and transform sewerage nutrients into life giving-carbon, and trace minerals.
Constructed wetlands are sources of recreations, tours, environmental studies, wildlife habitats, and open space for green buildings. Architects consider constructed wetlands as cheaper to construct than the normal sewerage and storm water treatment plant. Constructed wetlands are cheap to maintain and operate. They also handle large volumes of waste water than the normal sewerage plant systems.
Examples of constructed wetlands with varieties of functions to both human and wild lives include Phoenix of the Salt and Gila rivers and Tres Rios of the Phoenix metropolis. Constructed wetlands are rapidly growing across Europe, America and China.
Earthship green building is an example of water efficiency use in green buildings. The building collects and stores rain water in the tanks. The channels carry rain water into a cistern for storage.
Gravity and pumps direct water through filters for purification to create safe water for domestic purposes. Thus, results into a safe drinking, cooking and bathing water. Water used after cooking goes to botanical tank with rubber-lined walls.
These containers hold gravels and plants. The plants naturally clean the water. Roots and gravels filter the water and add bacteria. The bacteria consume soaps and chemical in the water. This water is now safe for reuse. However, water that is too dirty for reuse finds it way in a different drainage channel.
Occupants can use this water for toilet purposes. Earthship residents can reuse water up to four times, and always have a constant supply of water from the filtering channels (Sirvaitis, 2010).
Green buildings apply effective ways to reduce water usage through the installation of flow restrictors or reduced flow aerators on the toilets, sinks and showers. High-performance buildings also have automatic faucet sensors and meter control devices.
The buildings have high efficiency water urinals and closets. They have no water fixtures and have rain water trapping systems installed.
Products selections
Green buildings have their products and selection is becoming a complex affair. There are several innovative products to cater for green buildings in terms of standards, certifications, and metrics as means of assessing them.
However, some of these materials are just greenwash. The selection process requires the user to navigate all these pieces of information to find the materials he or she requires to use.
The product selections guidelines are the same as those of non-green buildings. All aspects of quality, aesthetics, costs and performance of the products are essential in green buildings materials selection processes. The fundamental questions for consideration include the environmental impacts and potential interventions measures on the products chosen.
The standard selection processes for green buildings including identification of materials, performance criteria, building materials options, technical information available, review of submitted information, evaluation of materials and selections and records of choices.
Product selection process is essential because there are many “environmental friendly” products available in the markets. Currently, majority would like to maintain the status quo concerning buildings. In fact, the industry pundits observe that clients do not show interests in eco products and continue to purchase materials which are not environmental friendly.
However, people are not all that informed about green buildings materials and where they can source them. This general lack of information has affected the market and distribution of green buildings materials (Woolley and Kimmins, 2002).
The future of green buildings
New developments are likely to impact the on the future of green buildings and their materials. The emerging fields of scientific studies such as virtual reality, chaos theory and holographic philosophy will change the world’s perspectives as well as the buildings.
The uses of computers are also likely to alter some of the requirements in modern buildings as methods of working relations are dramatically changing. The shrinking natural resources may cause crisis in energy demand with a massive impacts on building designs and demands.
This might results into a search for energy efficient buildings. The solutions are green buildings with the renewable sources of energy like wind (Harrison, Woolley, Kimmins, and Harrison, 2001).
Buildings have risen beyond the need for shelter and protection. Today’s buildings reflect environmental and economical concerns. The future buildings might entail social, environmental and economic aspects.
The ability to notice changes as they occur allow us to implement counteracting measure e.g. in the case of global warming. This is possible due to rapid means of collecting, processing and communicating feedback to the users.
References
Foster, K., Stelmack, A. and Hindman, D. (2006). Sustainable Residential Interiors. New Jersey: John Wiley.
Harrison, P., Woolley, T., Kimmins, S. and Harrison, R. (2001). Green Buiding Handbook: A guide to building products and their impact on the environment. London: Spon Press.
Sirvaitis, K. (2010). Seven Wonders of Green Building Technology. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books.
Spiegel, R. and Meadows, D. (2011). Green Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selection and Specification, 3rd Edition. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
The U.S. Green Building Council. (2009). Green Building Design and Construction. Washington, DC: USGBC, Inc.
Wilson, A. (2006). Your Green Home. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers.
Woolley, T. and Kimmins, S. (2002). Green Building Handbook: A guide to building products and their impact on the environment. London: Spon Press.
Yudelson, J. (2007). Green Building A to Z: Understanding the Language of Green Building. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.