There have been uncertainties concerning green buildings. What are green buildings? , What effects do they have? , What do they mean financially? ,These are some of the questions that need answers. The Green Building Council of South Africa describes a green building as “a building which is energy efficient, resource efficient and environmentally responsible-which incorporates design, construction and operational practices that significantly reduce or eliminate its negative impacts on the environment and its occupants” (GBCSA, 2013). The materials and technologies applied in green buildings simply make one wonder if there are any financial benefits, and how the overall costs are affected of constructing such buildings. This section will look at those two areas in detail.
Financial Benefits
When we look at financial benefits, it is not only during construction but post-construction as well. Financial benefits provided by green buildings over conventional buildings include lower maintenance and operations costs, energy and water saving, productivity and reduced employee health costs.
According to a study by Davis Langdon “Costing Green: A Comprehensive Cost Database and Budget Methodology”,( Morris P et al, 2004) a revelation was made that taking to consideration elements like climate, location and other variable factors between non-green buildings and green buildings, most green buildings resulted in little or no impact on the general budget. With all the requirements a green building has, which logically should have a huge impact on the budget turns out to not be the case.
Operation and Maintenance Costs
To determine the operational and maintenance costs of the green building in the long-run, a project life cycle cost an...
... middle of paper ...
...1. Malaysia. Institute for Environment and Development. Pg 86 – 98.
• Dick G. 2000. Green Building Basics. Green Building Alliance Centre.
• Kats G.H. 2003. The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Building. Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.
• Kerswill B. 2013. Green Building Council of South Africa. [Online]Available from: http://www.sacsc.co.za/images/the%20green%20building%20council%20of%20s.pdf. [Accessed: 24 March 2014].
• Kubba S. 2010. Green Construction Project Management and Cost Oversight. Amsterdam. Elsevier/Architectural Press. Pg 269 – 271.
• Napier T. 2012. Construction Waste Management. Malaysia. National Institute of Building Sciences.
• South Africa. Department of Water and Environmental Affairs. 2013. Raw water tariffs. [Online]Available from: http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Projects/WARMS/Revenue/WRI%20D&I2013.pdf. [Accessed: 24 March 2014].
LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a certification program for green buildings with stringent requirements for building energy efficient and environmentally responsible structures. Some requirements of this program include specific building materials, smart grid capable, gray water reclamation systems, green space minimums, high levels of insulation and low thermal transfer glass (US Green Building Council). Green buildings are a must if we are to sustain our current level of growth. Despite the higher initial cost of these buildings, the long term energy savings make these buildings a smarter choice for
Zimmermann, M, Althaus, & Haas, A. (2005). Benchmarks for sustainable construction. Energy and buildings, 37(11), 1147-1157.
Green buildings incorporates the use of recycled materials for construction where possible, constructions of structures on in-fill sites instead of green fields as well as maintenance of energy and water standards. As such Fremont can massively reduce the footprint of new structures through adopting the use of green building. This move towards sustainability is adopted in the city’s General Plan 2030 (“Sustainability”). The plan dictates the need for the city to implement a green building policy and to constantly search for opportunities to turn existing building and new constructions into environmental friendly structures. As part of the city’s goal, the reduction of green house gas emissions is also included in the plan.
Castleton and Davison, (2010) explains that intensive green roofs have a shallow substrate layer that tolerate deeper rooting plants, so that the trees and shrubs can remain alive. They are usually accessible and need regular maintenance such as extensive irrigation and fertilising. This type of roofs is generally thicker and can support a wider selection of plants and generally they are heavier systems, but therefore it has the highest demand on building structures. Fioretti and Palla, (2010) suggest that Intensive roofs are considered to be expensive to maintain and to build.
Increase cost of Eco-Friendly new building in Art District will be 150 million (“What we are about”, 2014).
Built for the London 2012 Olympic Games, hailed as one of the most sustainable Olympic Games ever, the Olympic Stadium is the pinnacle of sustainable construction. The construction process utilised many new construction techniques and procurement strategies, allowing the designers and contractors to use less construction material and save money. In order to measure the sustainability of the stadium the Olympic delivery authority (ODA) created a tailored version of BREEAM(Olympic Delivery Authority 2011). But how much more sustainable is the Olympic Stadium than other recently built stadiums?
In conclusion, the designers and builders of the tower have an undesirable job: creating a building that is functional, modern, sustainable and unique. At the same time it is honoring the memory of the people that died in and around the buildings that stood there before. While the green sustainable features have been criticized for being too expensive, they will do more than save just water, electricity and emissions. They and the grace of the building will inspire a generation of green and safe skyscrapers for the twenty-first century. This building has become one of the safest, environmentally friendly and expensive ever built, but as critics slate the building for various reasons, one cannot take away the determination through political, social and economic status that designers and workers have created such a beautiful building with great meaning.
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.
People are always looking for ways to save money. By using “Green” computer components you can save money and energy. Everyone having a computer powered on days at a time can use up a lot of energy, which will lead to a large energy bill. There is a lot of different ways to adapt your computer to be more energy efficient. Using more energy efficient computer components and changing settings in your operating system will save you big. By purchasing more energy efficient components such as processors, hard drives and computer monitors you can make your computer consume less power thus saving energy.
Greer, D. (2004, September-October). Green builders get big help from deconstruction. In Business, 26(5), 20. Retrieved from http://www.jgpress.com/inbusiness/archives/_free/000648.html
Scott Jardine, 2007, “Managing risk in construction projects – how to achieve a successful outcome – an article”, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
"A Renewed Commitment to Buildings and Their Social Benefits." U.S. Green Building Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. .
The beginnings of today's green revolution can be traced back to the environmental awareness of the 1960s and European design. New construction techniques have lead to the development of innovative materials and design concepts. Green buildings are designed, constructed and commissioned to ensure they are healthy for their occupants. Successfully designed green projects can involve an extensive array of factors, ranging from the resourceful use of materials, to careful consideration of function, climate, and location.
Green buildings need an approach including consideration towards health and wellbeing of the occupants in every aspects of the build projects, not only for the individual apartment unit but for the entire building, based on a wider context about the environment and the community around. This matter can be a huge approach which need an integrated thinking for the architects, designers, developers and government who is responsible in the community planning (Plass N 2007). Even though we are still in early stage, building a sustainable building nowadays is an establish concept with increasing rate of demand in most countries where it is supported by government in Europe, America, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea. These government have been promoted by their respective Green Building Councils. In a rate where ages is threatened by the climate nowadays, there is an increasing demand for energy and resource efficient building, but there is also a need to build a healthy and comfortable homes that is not affected by undue emissions of harmful substances (Yu CWF 2010), glare (PR 2010) or insufficient lighting (Lim HS 2010), noise (Han MH 2010), hot and cold climate (Daghigh R 2009), where occupants can actually feel safe, can interact with each other freely and can build hope for our future. For commercial buildings, there are reports of evidence about the environmentally certified buildings are raising in the aspects of personal control, day lighting, thermal comfort, air quality and noise reduction which can increase the productivity of individuals in order for them to do work or business operation (Lee YS 20...
The Green movement began in the Western World during the 1970’s around the time of the Vietnam War. The green movement is a social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvements to the current health of the environment. The Green movement also promotes the conservation, restoration, and the overall improvement of our environment. Many people disagree with the green movement and its values because they don’t see the immediate benefits from them. However, supporting the green movement by recycling, researching alternative energy sources, and mandating eco-friendly laws will lead to a better, greener, country.