Principles of Green Architecture and Sustainability

Green Buildings and Infrastructure

“Green Buildings for creating a Green environment” is what I would say. Generally, the term “Green Buildings” is understood in a wrong way. As in, the people have a wrong understanding about the term “Green Buildings”. Green Buildings does not just imply on creating huge lawns and making the building look green in colour.

 

CII, Hyderabad (Example of a Green Building in India)
CII, Hyderabad (Example of a Green Building in India)

It is all about making the environment green and create a healthy atmosphere inside the living space which also has an impact on the outside surroundings.

Vegetation, Landscaping is definitely a part of Green Building Design but that is not all which would make the building green.

In this article, we are going to discuss the goals of Green Buildings or rather I should say the “Principles of Green Buildings”.

If we are successful in achieving these principles, we will definitely be able to successfully design not just “A green Building” but also create a Green environment.

Earlier we discussed, various Passive and Active features of Green Building Design. Passive Features form an indispensible part of Green Building Design. That is the most primary and important step to be achieved in order to create a sustainable and Green environment.

Passive features of a Green Building are the design features that are to be incorporated in a Building so that it requires use of lesser energy resources by the users of the building and also maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

Active features of Green Architecture implies on the use of equipment that works on Renewable resources and help in the conservation of natural and non-renewable resources.

For example, Wind Turbines are used to generate electricity with the help of non-exhaustible wind power.

Solar water heater and solar photovoltaic panels are used to heat the water and generate electricity respectively by harnessing solar energy of the sun.

Let us now move on with the discussion on the principles of Green Buildings:

  1. Site and its surroundings
  2. Energy Efficiency
  3. Water Efficiency
  4. Material Efficiency
  5. Indoor Air Quality
  6. Waste Reduction
  7. Low maintenance costs

These are the seven key principles of Green Building Architecture.

We will discuss each of these principles in our succeeding articles.

Green Building Architecture in the 21st Century

Like we discussed earlier that people have entirely mistaken in actually understanding the concept of Green Buildings. This is not just the misunderstanding in terms of landscaping but there are also other major factors that contribute to it.

People have begun to use expensive materials trying to make the building energy efficient but they fail to realize that the materials that are being used for the purpose are high energy intensive materials and are not serving much purpose in the context of Green Buildings.

Use of Local materials, recycled materials and natural materials have to be brought into practice and should be utilized in a right way. Making Buildings expensive and then calling it Green Buildings is not what the entire concept is about.

In our succeeding articles, we will be studying what the real concept of Green Buildings and Sustainable environment is about.

 

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