Sustainable Design

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Sustainable Design

Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, the health and comfort of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objects of sustainability are to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, minimal waste, and create healthy, productive environments (“Sustainable Design”). Focusing primarily on the sustainable design principles, there are five, including: low-impact materials, energy efficiency, quality and durability, design for reuse and recycling, and renewability. As sustainability appears to become the necessary trend in architecture, the question concerning the cost versus outcome of “going green” really an investment or a waste of time and money comes to mind. With our research provided below, we believe the expenses may truly be with the investment in the end.

Low-Impact Materials

Low-impact materials include non-toxic, sustainably produced or recycled materials that require little energy to process. Three main areas of the home that call for much of the focus on low-impact materials include cabinetry, flooring, and countertops. Wheatboard, also called strawboard, is emerging as a great alternative to a traditional medium density particleboard. Straw is a byproduct of the harvesting process for barley and wheat, and American farmers who supply our country’s massive cereal industry produce an estimated 150 million tons of straw each year. Usually, the straw is burned, but new markets for wheatboard are giving farmers a second income. Bales of straw waste are finely ground, sorted and dried, bound with a resin, compressed into sheets, sanded, and cut to size. Along with the resin that occurs naturally when the straw is under pressure, hi...

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...donough.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Hannover-Principles-1992.pdf>. Web.

IceStone. . 23 Sept 2013. Web.

"Principles of Sustainable Design." National Building Museum. N.p. . Web.

“Sustainable Design.” U.S. General Services Administration. GSA, 2013. . 23 Sept 2013. Web.

Vetrazzo. . 23 Sept 2013. Web.

Additional websites:

• http://www.usgbc.org/Docs/Archive/General/Docs684.pdf

• http://www.leeduser.com/credit/NC-v2.2/MRc6

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_resource

• http://www.oas.org/dsd/publications/Unit/oea79e/ch05.htm

• http://isofloc.com/our-insulation-products/isofloc-lm/

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