SeeingGreen

With earth day having come and gone let's take time to reflect on what can be done to improve the earth. Besides the usual talk of recycling, using less fossil fuels, etc. (which are important), the new hit phrase is "Building Green." Now I know what you're thinking...."what the heck is building green and why should I care.." Okay, maybe that's not what you were thinking, but guess what? I'm going to pretend that you care and share a little info that hopefully will shed some light on our little mess we have created.

In the U.S., buildings represent 39% of the primary energy use. What is even more staggering is that buildings represent 70% of the U.S. electricity consumption and 12.2% of all potable water consumption!

As you can imagine, decades of building throughout the nation comes at a price.

Developed Nations Using Disproportionate Amount of Water

Researchers found a six-fold increase in water use for only a two-fold increase in population size in the United States since 1900. Such a trend reflects the connection between higher living standards and increased water usage, and underscores the need for more sustainable management and use of water supplies even in more developed societies. Click here for more info: http://environment.about.com/od/biodiversityconservation/a/watersupply.htm

Trash Build Up

The EPA estimates that 136 million tons of building-related construction and demplition debris was generated int eh U>S. in a single year. See, http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/debris/about.htm

Raw Materials

According to Lenssen and Roodman, 1995 Worldwatch Paper 124: A Building Revolution: How Ecology and Health concerns are Transforming Construction, buildings use 40% of raw materials globally (3 billion tons annually!).

Luckily, State and Local Governments are starting to combat these concerns. For instance, many State Governments have initiated tax incentives for buildings that comply with LEED Certifications. click here for LEED Certification info http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19

One major area of improvement appears to be with the building of Green schools. Green schools cost less to operate, freeing up resources to truly improve students' education. Their acoustics and abundant daylight make it easier and more comfortable for students to learn. Also, the clean indoor air cuts down sick days. Click here for more http://www.buildgreenschools.org/

Factors expediting the growth of green building: 1) unprecedented level of government initatives; 2) heightened residential demand for green construction; 3)improvements in sustainable materials.

Of course with this new growth in the construction industry comes new legal issues. For info on the legal aspect of Building Green see http://buildgreen-law.blogspot.com/

That's all for now. I will be posting general info relating to Building Green in the near future.