With modern cities fast turning into a jungle of concrete, need for sustainable building practices has been felt more than ever before to make a balance between urbanization and preservation of the environment. Green construction is not just about the building materials and architecture, but it covers different phases, ranging from location, designing to construction, and functionality and maintenance to restoration and even destruction of the homebuilding. It also involves conservation of water and energy and ensuring healthy environment for occupants. Here we have listed some of the basic principles of green building.
Conception and designing:
Conceiving the design and drawing it on a chart are the initial but at the same time important stages of any construction project. For during this phase, architects plan the overall design, decide building materials and other sustainability measures like waste management and energy and water efficiency for the building. Even though architectural processes vary from one building to the other, you should have a clear idea of the construction procedure that you will follow in the due course to reach the desired end.
Water and energy efficiency:
With shrinking natural resources and growing demand, conservation of water and energy becomes an essential attribute for green building. Hence, modern architectures should not just equip latest tools to reduce their water and electricity consumption, but also follow practices to harness renewable sources of energy like wind and sun using portable wind turbines and solar panels, and rain through rainwater harvesting systems to fulfill their energy and water requirements respectively.
Construction material:
Building materials simply increases or reduces the carbon footprints of any structure. Some of the examples of green materials are wood sourced from perennial forests and other renewable plants like bamboo, used stone and recycled metal. You should also make sure not to use toxic materials or products that are harmful for both environment and occupants. Therefore, selection of material becomes important to make the building carbon neutral.
Life cycle:
Resilience and life cycle that includes factors like functionality, maintenance, renovation and so on also determines the sustainability of any building. The architecture should feature such a design and materials that do not trigger global warming, overexploit resources, or cause air or water pollution in the due course. Even its demolition should be safe and sustainable.
Sustainable building is all about maintaining the right balance between architectural process and environmental sustainability. Therefore, green buildings should have proper planning, right selection of building material and energy and water conservation measures in place.
