Jarret TT Camp

Archive for October, 2009

Green building is a technique that employs smart design, advanced technology, sustainable construction, and maintenance elements that create a building that has a minimal impact on the environment and creates a healthy environment for residents in the building. This type of building can be used for houses, office buildings, schools, and community centers. Green building occurs in all climates, from the hot and arid climate of Arizona to the bitter cold winters of Maine. It is estimated that 10% of new home construction in 2010 will be green.

A building does not necessarily have to be built green, as many buildings can be made green or greener well after they were originally built. The greening of a building can be done gradually and can be as easy as installing EnergyStar rated appliances, employing methods to reduce water consumption and heat loss, or creating natural landscape features on the property.

The majority of green built buildings built in the United States comply with and are certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. LEED is a rating system for building green and places emphasis on sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

The urban sprawl of cities cover only 0.4% of the world’s surface, yet they generate the majority of the carbon emissions responsible for global warming (State of the World 2007, Worldwatch Institute, January 2007). As more and more of the global population migrate from rural areas into burgeoning cities of concrete and bitumen, the issue of green spaces become ever more critical. The urban roofscape of growing cities that displaces the natural environment is a hellish place hot bituminous surfaces, extreme temperature contrasts, high winds and an antipathy to water. Some cities have turned to innovative approaches, transforming city rooftops into living gardens in the sky.

Sod houses on the American prairie commonly had living roofs, as did the log houses of Northern Europe. But it has only been recently that the trend has caught on in the modern cities. On commercial buildings, a green roof is typically made up of four layers a layer of water proof membrane, followed by storage cups to store excess water, a growing medium of soil composite and vegetation. With new and improved technology, the membranes spread across rooftops can now capture water for irrigation, allow drainage, support growing plants, and resist invasion of roots into building structure. In some cities such as Germany, Switzerland and Austria, living roofs are required by law if roofs are of a suitable pitch. In other places, architects and builders are given fee reductions to encourage the use of green roofs.