Architectural research has become more and more concerned about green buildings because of the growing problems of global warming, environmental damage, limited energy resources, and the need to reduce the energy consumption of buildings. Reasonable usage of solar energy may significantly minimize damage to the environment. This article addresses the same.
Green building was born out of the idea that the built environment can have both positive and negative effects on the natural environment, which is not built. When it comes to green construction, the goal is to maximize beneficial benefits while minimizing negative ones. This endeavor encompasses the complete life cycle of the structure.
What Exactly Do We Mean by Green Buildings
There are many different ways to think about green building, but the main idea is that when you plan, design, build, and run a building, you have to think about things like energy use, indoor environmental quality, material selection, water use, and the building’s impact on the environment. Green buildings use a range of strategies and practices to decrease and ideally eliminate, the environmental effect of buildings. The technique stresses the use of renewable resources including active and passive renewable panels. They also prioritize green roofs with miniature trees, herbs, terrace vases, plants, and rain gardens to preserve water. Sustainable infrastructure is a structure that optimizes multi-objective features. On the one side, it should minimize energy utilization as much as achievable via passive design while also having excellent interior comfort; on the other side, when the passive design is used, it should have good indoor comfort.
The Need For The Green Building Movement
Energy resources and other challenges have received a lot of attention in recent years. “Energy conservation and pollution decrease” has become a worldwide common strategic decision in order to actively react to global warming and energy consumption challenges, as well as aggressively construct green buildings. Green buildings’ primary purpose is to alter the harmonious interaction between humans, the environment, and architecture. Traditional architecture has shown unwavering efforts and intelligence in adjusting to the natural environment despite limited technological resources. Of course, any use of today’s highly competitive growth of high-tech industrial machinery may generate comfortable and pleasant interior climatic conditions, but this not only uses a lot of energy resources but also presents a danger to the environment and has some influence on human health. As a result, people increasingly lose their ability to adapt to the environment and depend more and more on mechanical devices. Consequently, in order to conserve energy resources and efficiently minimize the amount of energy required by the buildings as much as feasible, and so help humans lead better lives, we should completely address the natural environment from the onset of the design process. There is a strong need to better understand the equilibrium that exists between nature and man.
Renewable Energy for Sustainable Buildings
There are many ways that smart technology can be used to make even old buildings more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient. It is not just about architecture and design in green buildings, but also about becoming innovative with how to better utilize and preserve energy. Passive solar technology, also known as daylighting, relies on window location, the use of thermal mass, and the right orientation of the structure to the sun to supply light and heat without the need for any external device. Sunlight enters the structure via south-facing windows and open internal areas. Sun water heaters provide hot water by using solar energy. Solar photovoltaic panels installed on the roof or on the building’s exterior convert solar energy to electricity. They may be composed of a variety of materials, which affect their efficiency, such as new extremely thin photovoltaic modules that are inexpensive and non-toxic. Solar power gives energy independence and, once installed, free and sustainable energy; the downsides are that electricity may vary and systems can be expensive to build, however, there are several tax breaks and subsidies available.
The Edge: A Case Study
This remarkable example demonstrates how smart technology may enhance energy efficiency in green buildings while also making built environments more pleasant and healthier for residents. The Edge is one of the world’s greenest skyscrapers. It is based in Amsterdam and employs natural and LED light, giving 70% less power use than similar office buildings. The structure, which is oriented following the direction of the sun and has solar panels covering most of its roof as well as south-facing walls, generates more energy than it needs, powering the whole estate.
Deep wells send hot water into a reservoir, which stores thermal energy, and then pumps it back up in the winter to offer radiant heating, while air vented through the top makes it cool in the summer. In addition, the structure gathers rainwater in large barrels for restrooms and drip irrigation systems in a garden with beehives and bat homes. The Edge reaches beyond just being environmentally friendly; it incorporates smart technologies to improve adaptability and efficiency. A digital illumination monitoring system with sensors that monitor occupancy, temperatures, and motion enables improved energy conservation. When there is fewer personnel present, whole sections of the building might be put on standby to save electricity. Employees pick workplaces that best fit their requirements since there are no fixed workstations. Employees may use smartphone applications to identify parking places, open desks, or coworkers, while also recording each person’s preferred lighting levels so that the atmosphere can be adjusted properly.
