Building green provides a range of benefits, from the personal to the global - economic and environmental advantages for families, communities, and the entire planet.
A green building is one where the qualities of both the indoor and outdoor environments have been considered and protected during its design, construction, maintenance, and use. ...
By building green, we can assist in preserving natural habitats, watersheds, and ecosystems. In addition we can protect air and water quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce solid waste. All while conserving natural resources and creating a healthier environment both indoors and outdoors.
Green building also has tangible economic and public health benefits. These include lower operating costs via reduced energy and water utility bills and reduced maintenance and replacement costs due to greater durability of materials. The use of non-toxic materials in residential construction is especially important in protecting children from respiratory and other diseases.
On average the construction, maintenance, and use of buildings are responsible for 40% of all the energy use in the United States. ...
With only 5% of the world's population, the United States uses 25% of the world's energy resources and contributes more than 25% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
By building green we can protect the natural world and even have a positive impact. Typical building construction, use, and demolition, as well as manufacturing of building materials, contribute significantly to environmental problems.
According to an article from Buildinggreen.com entitled "Cost of Going Green", published in their July 2007 issue, they found that "There are so many huge costs factors in construction that it is not possible to detect any statistically significant difference between the cost of green and non-green buildings".
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating SystemTM is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. ...
LEED
® gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings' performance. LEED
® promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
LEED® provides a roadmap for measuring and documenting success for every building type and phase of a building lifecycle.
What is LEED
® Certification?
The first step to LEED® certification is to Register your project. A project is a viable candidate for LEED® certification if it can meet all prerequisites and achieve the minimum number of points to earn the Certified level of LEED® project certification. To earn certification, a building project must meet certain prerequisites and performance benchmarks ("credits") within each category. Projects are awarded Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum certification depending on the number of credits they achieve. This comprehensive approach is the reason LEED-certified buildings have reduced operating costs, healthier and more productive occupants, and conserve our natural resources.
A Green Roof is a layer of living vegetation that is installed on the top of a conventional flat or sloping roof, this helps to replace the vegetated footprint that was destroyed then the home or building was built. ...
Green roofs can be categorized three ways, 'extensive', 'semi-intensive' or 'intensive' systems. Depending on the area of the roof and the plants used would determine how the roof is categorized.
Extensive green roofs are lightweight, suitable for large areas, and have low maintenance costs and may be designed for no irrigation. Extensive Green Roofs have a growing depts. Of 6" or less and require minimal maintenance. Semi-Intensive combines the best features of extensive and intensive green roofs. Semi-intensive utilizes areas with greater loading capacity, has greater coverage at less cost than intensive and requires average maintenance. The growing depth is 25% above or below 6". Intensive green roofs use a wide variety of plant species that may include trees and shrubs, require deeper substrate layers, are generally limited to flat roofs, require 'intense' maintenance, and are often park-like areas accessible to the general public.
CVT Contracting has developed an entire division of its company to the installation and implementation of Green Roofs in Washington DC and the surrounding metro area. CVT is certified to provide design and construction services to ensure that homeowners, business owners and architects understand how these unique systems are installed and maintained. As a member of the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, our "green team" has been thoroughly trained on all facets of green roof installation.
Benefits of green roofs.
Numerous benefits can result from the adoption of green roof technologies. Besides the obvious aesthetic and psychological benefits of being surrounded by garden-like settings, common ecological and economic benefits include:
Reduce Energy Costs - Green roofs have been proven to bring about significant energy savings, particularly during the summer cooling season in which single story buildings can experience a reduction of greater than 25% energy use.
Stormwater Management - A major benefit of green roofs is their ability to absorb stormwater and release it slowly over a period of several hours. Green roof systems have been shown to retain 60-100% of the stormwater they receive.
Sound Insulation - Plants, soil, and trapped air and moisture in the soil are great acoustic insulators. Studies have shown that green roofs can reduce indoor sound by as much as 40 decibels.
Extended Roof Life - green roofs have a longer life-span than standard roofs because they are protected from ultraviolet radiation and the extreme fluctuations in temperature that cause roof membranes to deteriorate. Not only does the roof last longer, but there is reduced membrane maintenance. All this brings about significant cost savings over time.
Aesthetics - Green roofs provide both visually pleasing vistas and functional space through serene rooftop gardens and gathering areas. In addition, green roofs often help increase the values of condominiums, apartment complexes, and office buildings.
Urban "Heat Island" Effect - Generally, the temperature in an urban area is 6-10 degrees warmer than in a suburban area. Green Roofs help to insulate and shade buildings. The plants cool the air around the building by returning moisture into the air. In large scale usage, these factors have the potential to significantly reduce the urban heat island effect within these cities.
Building Green
