Introduction
Today people are raising many concerns over the extensive direct impacts of industrialization on the environment for instance the building and construction directions, materials and designs. The resources in question include the energy, raw materials, water and even the waste materials.
The common unique challenge faced by the building experts, designers or owners include the need to meet building requirements and regulations such as accessibility, security, health and productivity. The most important need is to be environmental friendly.
At present, the economical growth is a great challenge to sustainable design but the approach used must be supportive to the environment by ensuring conservation. People will want to optimize a balance on benefits of expenditure, ecological, communal as well as human benefits while still meet the intended mission regarding proper infrastructure or facility mainly concerning comfort, productivity and safety.
The green house materials used for buildings
These materials identify with sustainability of resources especially the scarce resources. McDonough and Braungart (17) Most of the green professional builders will advice one to have their premises installed with alternative waste water systems or solar energy systems. Other recognizable materials include the rainwater harvesting facilities, the compost lavatory systems, radiation barriers, toxicant terminators or controllers and environmental friendly concretes.
The designs and engineering innovations ought to entail the environmental sensitive structures for a better and sustainable future. The innovative designs of bridges in the last two decades have brought about some dramatic impact on the need to conserve the environment through the aspect of beauty. The recent news is the awarding of a landmark “Transamerica Pyramid building” at San Francisco as a ”LEED Gold” due to its green nature thus upgrading the city’s status.
Effects and benefits of green materials to the environment
The availability of fossil fuels is dwindling day by day. With many heated issues arising daily concerning of the environmental degradation such as global climate change, security of the resources and dependency on the energy sources.
Sustainable measures require utilization of renewable energy sources in all the amenities especially the infrastructure. Measures to save the environment are evident today, for instance, the world debate by the international representatives in Copenhagen to combat measures causing the climate changes such as gas emissions and greenhouses gas pollution.
The other benefit posed by the green designs entails water conservation. At present, water is increasingly becoming a scarce commodity and a sustainable building ought to have on site measures of reducing wastage through conservation measures such as harvesting, storage, efficient utilization, reuse and recycling measures.
Green materials used on the sustainable buildings reduce the environmental hazardous impacts such as the global warming effects, depletion of resources, and toxicities. The materials also have reduced negative effects to human health thus contributing to the worker’s and users’ safety, reducing the liability measures hence low insurance costs for the owners, reduces resources disposal costs and helps in attaining the environmental goals.
There is equally enhanced indoor quality of the environment for the user whereby, production or comfort is achievable. Sustainable building ought to utilize natural lighting due to the appropriate ventilations and excellent means of controlling moisture. Such structures have ways of avoiding use of materials with emissions and entails appraisals for materials that are able to mitigate “chemical, biological or radiological attacks.” (McDonough and Braungart, 7)
Conclusion
The use of green materials for sustainable buildings entails installation of operating and maintenance costs at the initial phases of design. This eventually increases productivity, lessens usage of scarce resources or energy expenses as a measure of preventing failures or optimizing maintenance requirements.
They also reduce on the life cycle of buildings or renovation costs. In “Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart argument is that, the issue of having opportunistic designs comes about as a result of the existing conflicts between manufacturing and the environment conservation measures.
Works Cited
McDonough, William and Braungart, Michael. Cradle to Cradle: Remarking the
Way we Make Things. (First Ed). New York, NY: North Point Press Publishers. 2002