When people first think about building or upgrading their existing building into an eco-friendly building, they quickly dismiss the idea because they think that the upgrade will be too expensive and will be too costly. don't benefit them too much. The general opinion regarding green buildings is that they require a very large initial investment compared to the initially calculated cost of the building and that the cost of retrofitting will not be outweighed by the benefits. This notion is completely false because people normally only consider the environmental benefits of green buildings while unknowingly ignoring all other benefits to society and themselves. These people can easily ignore issues that don't suit them and decide that they don't want to waste extra money on something they can't even see the effects of. Although most people are quick to overlook the options of upgrading their existing building or creating a new eco-friendly building, the long-term benefits outweigh the small initial investment required. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayFounded in 1993, the United States Green Building Council was established as a national nonprofit that promotes sustainability in the design of buildings. They developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system to rate new and existing buildings based on their environmental attributes and sustainable features. LEED is the “common benchmark for sustainability” (California) and is quickly becoming the standard for green building design. Buildings can incorporate different ways of creating a more environmentally friendly building into their initial design and will be evaluated by the USGBC for its LEED certification. Buildings are divided into different certification levels based on their environmental friendliness and there are countless ways for buildings to invest in their building based on their specific circumstances. Surprisingly, there aren't many architecture firms that even build green buildings. friendly buildings today. This extremely low demand for green buildings may be because people associate green buildings with adding extra money to their project to help the environment. Some people have this mentality that if it doesn't affect me directly, it's not my problem and someone else will take care of it. Some people understand and some people don't understand that being eco-friendly is good for the environment, but many people simply don't care enough about the environment to want to waste their money on it. These people who don't care either refuse to believe that climate change exists, or if they do, they don't believe that humans are responsible for climate change. Some people don't even admit that there is anything wrong and either believe that nothing has changed or that all change is natural. Sallie Baliunas, who holds a doctorate in astrophysics from Harvard, says that being environmentally friendly is just a waste of money because "reducing greenhouse gas emissions does not prevent any significant increases of temperature” (Baliunas) and if we wanted to have any effect we would have to reduce much more. When people hear such things, they think it'ssimply a waste of money to try to prevent something you can't stop. What they don't know is that even if these predictions are true, there are many reasons other than reducing carbon emissions that should convince people to want to help create a more environmentally friendly world. the environment. Eco-friendly buildings are capable of reducing emissions like everyone else. is aware of this because they are designed to save energy consumption. This reduction in energy consumption will reduce emissions of natural pollutants created by the combustion of fossil fuels, which are the primary source of non-renewable energy used in most buildings. These pollutants released into the atmosphere during the burning of fossil fuels are considered the main causes of climate change. Green buildings can help reduce pollutant emissions in different ways, customizable depending on the building's environment and its occupants. Buildings can use different methods such as solar power generators, maximizing the use of sunlight as opposed to fluorescent lighting, and facilitating public transportation to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Reducing overall energy consumption in buildings that rely on electricity produced by burning fossil fuels also helps reduce emissions that pollute the planet and reduce global warming. Although there are many sources of energy, renewable sources are not exploited. widely used throughout the world. Most of the time, whether we know it or not, the electricity we pay for comes from burning fossil fuels. We inadvertently contribute to the problem of climate change depending on where our electricity comes from. Sometimes we have a choice and we can buy electricity produced from renewable resources, but other times we can't because they are too far away. Even though renewable energy is not widely produced around the world, people should not be discouraged if they want to help prevent climate change. People and companies who cannot directly purchase energy produced from renewable resources can still purchase green certificates. Green certificates are the equivalent of “purchasing the property of reduced emissions” (California) to support facilities that produce energy from renewable sources elsewhere, even if they purchase energy created by burning fossil fuels. If more people took the initiative to support renewable energy, it could become more readily available around the world and help reduce climate change, which would benefit everyone. Another environmental benefit of constructing or retrofitting current building designs to more environmentally friendly designs is water conservation. The two main ways that green buildings can conserve water are rainwater harvesting and gray water recycling. By creating a building that captures rainwater, that water can then be reused for other uses or even for watering indoor and outdoor plants instead of having to pay more money for water. Studies show that if methods used in standard green buildings are applied to capture rainwater, water reduction "of more than 50% for landscaping" can be expected (California) . The watersGray, on the other hand, is wastewater collected indoors, including wastewater from sinks and washing machines, excluding, among others, toilet water which cannot be reused. If this water from indoor plumbing is collected after use and then reused, it can “reduce water consumption at or below code/common practice by more than 30%” (California). Gray water can be reused for other tasks such as watering plants and for use in toilets among other things, thus saving clean water for consumption and future use. Reducing waste is also a very important factor in constructing eco-friendly buildings. When you first design a building, you also want to consider its deconstruction to try to avoid large-scale demolition of buildings. Large-scale demolition of buildings creates a lot of waste that ends up in landfills and the building then requires all new materials to be manufactured, both of which have negative effects on the environment. The goal of green buildings is to reuse materials you salvaged from the old building to reduce waste. By reusing more building materials from the old building, you will need less new building materials and help save the environment. Beyond simply reusing old materials, all new materials must be durable and easy to repair or maintain to ensure that the materials will be used for as long as possible. Another way to reduce waste is “using structural materials in a dual role as a finishing material” (California), where you can limit the amount of materials needed to finish the building. All of these methods of reducing waste during building deconstruction aim to encourage new flexible building designs so that anything that can have multiple uses does. The government offers many financial incentives to people who invest in the construction or renovation of their buildings. the ecological ones. These incentives are intended to encourage people to think twice about what they think will cost them to upgrade their current plans to environmentally friendly ones. Even without these incentives, homeowners can save money in the long run through environmentally friendly building retrofits. Studies show that “owners increase their initial investment tenfold over the life of the building due to the savings” (Levin 39) from their environmentally friendly building design. Many people do not take into account the long-term effects of converting to environmentally friendly design when deciding what to build and that is why the government needs incentives for their upgrade. Based on these long-term savings, it would be unreasonable for anyone to think that the small initial investment is not offset by the larger savings over time. Eco-friendly buildings are designed to provide the maximum amount of natural light possible in order to reduce buildings' reliance on electricity. This helps homeowners save money through reduced electricity usage, while also reducing pollutant emissions that would have been created if the energy was needed. Green buildings consume on average “30% less purchased energy than conventional buildings” (California), which helps to lower the cost ofelectricity, which is likely to increase over time. Some studies even show that there are “better sales in stores that use natural light” (Green), which also encourages store owners to upgrade their buildings. Photovoltaics is an option that can be considered when designing an environmentally friendly building since it can be used to "generate 20% of the [building's] electricity on site" (California), which will help further reduce energy costs in the long term. Decreasing reliance on electricity will help businesses operate more efficiently because they will not have to worry about sudden changes in operating costs due to changing electricity costs or power outages that could adversely affect their results. It is better, in the long term, for the maintenance of the building, the environment and the owner's pockets, to invest in the creation or even simply in the renovation of the current design of his building for a more environmentally friendly design. the environment. It takes a lot of energy to regulate the temperature inside buildings so that it is comfortable for the people who live or work there. Poorly constructed buildings have difficulty moderating temperature and cannot maintain heat well in winter and coolness in summer. To address the effects of poor temperature moderation, we tend to simply turn on the heating in winter or the air conditioning in summer, but the extra electricity consumption contributes to climate change and increasing your utility bill. electricity, which may seem more important. at the time. There are ways to help buildings better regulate temperature in winter and summer, when electricity demand is highest. The urban heat island effect is a serious problem that occurs in cities where the average temperature is higher than it should be because the buildings are all crowded together and all absorbing heat. One way green buildings can combat this problem is to “increase the reflectivity of roofs and other typically dark surfaces” (green), because darker surfaces absorb more sunlight and increase the temperature inside buildings. faster. When it's hotter than it should be inside buildings, people turn on their air conditioners and use way more energy than necessary. Air conditioning units also contribute to increased heat and pollution in cities since they expel all the hot air out the window to cool the room. The heat island effect is not only harmful because it warms buildings, but it also “directly contributes to reducing the creation of ozone” (California), another cause of global warming. With better temperature control inside buildings, this will help reduce “significant human health costs associated with smog” (Green), as there will be a decrease in pollutants, such as those released from air conditioners and the radiators, which are formed. smog. This is beneficial for both the owners of the building and the people who work or live inside, as they save money while avoiding possible health problems. Studies conducted over the past decade have shown that “employee productivity is positively correlated with indoor environmental conditions.” (Green) means green buildings increase employee productivity in the workplace. An example is that of VeriFone, a company that decided to renovate its existing building to make it more environmentally friendly.