Green Building

From the dawn of the human civilization, the planet earth was subjected to a lot of pressure for providing various ways of dwelling for mankind and man, who have created a share of havoc on the various sources of natural resources that was made available for the vast human race. But now after so many years man has landed himself amidst a lot of problem by over-exploiting these natural resources. If these non-renewable resources actually start to deplete, there will be no turn around for the human race. Thus with the use of green real estates, it will completely be removed from the Earth’s face.

All our attempts and efforts to improve our different ways of living have left behind a carbon footprint. The event resulting in the emission of the accumulative green house gases is known as the carbon footprint. In spite of spending millions of dollars and hosting various researches’s no process has been discovered to control this rapid decrement of the natural resources. At last one solution has been discovered that apart from being beautiful and cost effective, is also very eco-friendly. This is the art of living green. In order to compliment this green living extravaganza, many green real estates have been constructed throughout the planet.

The construction of these green real estates is progressing keeping in mind the ultimate interest of the environment. Thus the major part of these materials that are being used for the construction is either obtained from razed buildings all around America or recycled substances. The constructions take place under strict vigilance so that the environment remains harmless. To minimize indoor pollution and its various causes, green flooring substances are being used. An ample supply of eco-friendly materials are being used fro the construction of these green real estates. One of the best options for this is bamboo floors. From the usage of recycled-content carpet to sustainable timbers, everything is eco-friendly. The different compounds that are used for this special purpose have low Volatile Organic Compounds that helps in the reduction of any little chance of the harmful emissions after the process of installation is completed. Other important options that are available include stone flooring, linoleum flooring, cork flooring and hard wood flooring. the installation of all these products not only helps u gain tax benefits and a better financing for your new home, it also meets all high standards of green living.

The environment will highly benefit if the revolutionary idea of green real estates meets its desired success. If the environment benefits from anything, we also benefit. Residing in these green homes thus not only helps you and your environment benefit but it also gives you immense opportunity to save your hard earned money. thus this is one of those complete solutions which not only saves your money and gives you financial benefits, but you can also do your little bit towards the environment by using green real estates, which will not only make our lives healthy but will also pave a happy way for the generations to follow.

A very popular topic being discussed today is saving and helping our environment. This is popularly referred to as the green movement. From making cars to have less of an impact on our environment, to using natural gases, there are many different ways to help stay green. One way to make a difference is to have a certified green home built. Many people have never heard of these homes, even though they have been around for decades, and thousands of them exist. So what exactly does it mean to have a certified green home?

A certified green-home is a home that is very energy efficient, affordable, and environmentally friendly. You have efficient plumbing installed, efficient electricity, efficient windows, and the list goes on. It could even mean that you have trees planted in certain areas of your landscape to create shade, which can make your home more efficient when you use HVAC. There are many benefits to having an energy efficient home.

Benefits of owning a certified green-home range from overall money savings, to being proud that you are helping your environment, to making a good investment for the future. You save a lot of money on utilities because everything in your home is running efficiently, which helps both you and the environment. The air quality is also better in an energy efficient home, making your living healthier. Even the construction process itself reduces waste and reduces its carbon footprint onto the environment. There are no down sides at all to having a green home, and only benefits, so it only makes sense to build your house to these standards.

It is hard to find a starting place when you are discussing all the benefits there are to owning and living in a certified green home. You also have different types of benefits that exist. There are the obvious benefits to the environment, which is mostly the entire purpose of this type of house, and then there are the many benefits to the homeowner that should be taken into account. Both of these types of benefits represent different ways to look the green homes too.

Even if you aren’t into the whole green movement, and don’t care too much for the environment, the benefits of a green home can help save you a lot of money. Every part of the house and the way it is built has efficiency in mind. If you are talking about a very efficient home, then this means you are saving money every month on your water bill, electric bill, and saving money on the upkeep of your home. Having things like high-efficiency windows will save you a great amount of money with your electric bill by making your HVAC work better.

The environmental benefits of a green home range from the actual construction process being eco friendly, to the amount of energy you use in your home. The entire idea of the home is to leave the smallest carbon footprint as possible. There is also a huge benefit when it comes to thinking about investments with the house. Not many environmentally friendly homes exist compared to normal houses, making them few and far between, which will drive the prices up, ensuring you will always hold the value of your home with a green home.

Beyond the obvious advantages to the environment, having a smart home or green home can also pay financial dividends. After all, both are designed to use fewer resources such as water, electricity and heating fuel.

But for many people, deciding which way to go – green or smart – can be a confusing process. Some common questions are “Can I make my home greener?” and “What is the return on investment for upgrading?”. While the answers can be different for each homeowner, understanding the differences are key to making the right decision.

Smart homes, once the stuff of science fiction, have now become a viable and affordable option for many homeowners. A smart home is essentially a house with a central computer system that monitors the internal and external environments, and makes changes as needed.

For example, during the day when no one is at home, the thermostat may be automatically adjusted to reduce heating energy. Doors may be automatically locked at a certain time in the evening. Exterior lighting may be turned on or off depending on when it gets dark. Additional features such as home entertainment systems and appliances can also be controlled through a central “smart” system.

Access by internet or smart phone can give homeowners the ability to control or make changes to the system remotely.

Turning your house into a smart home is not difficult or overly costly. Many companies have developed PC based systems that can be installed quickly and with no mess. In addition, a number of appliance manufacturers are now integrating PC compatible connections into their products for use with smart home systems.

A green home is a building that was designed and built to be environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout its life-cycle – from design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and deconstruction.

Green homes are made using materials that are as environmentally friendly as possible and/or provide the most energy efficient performance. These include heating and cooling systems that use less energy, such as solar water heating and geothermal central heating. They are also sourced locally when possible to reduce their carbon footprint.

Green homes take into account every aspect of energy use and are designed to minimize wastage while enhancing the indoor environment. For example, indoor lighting would depend primarily on natural sunlight through the use of larger windows and skylights. Walls and flooring would be made from natural materials like bamboo that do not negatively impact on indoor temperature.

Like smart homes, green homes may also integrate the use of a central computer system to monitor and control energy usage.

But unlike smart homes, a green home is designed from the ground up to be “green”. And while environmentally responsible changes can be made to any home, it cannot be classified as a green home. However that should not deter you. Efficient heating and cooling systems, thermal windows and doors, and more efficient lighting will not only have a positive impact in the environment, but also your pocket book.

When you enter the hospital as a patient, or are visiting a loved one, you expect a certain level of care and comfort needed to get well. Hospital constructions, as well as practices, need to be sustainable in order to best serve the needs of patients and hospital employees.

It is estimated that water and energy conservation in hospitals that use green building services experience $100,000- 200,000 annual savings in operating expenses. One way to accomplish these savings is to utilize the tools and educational programs the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has developed with the Green Guide for Health Care.

Although the Green Guide does not create LEED certification requirements, they offer strategic guidance specific to healthcare facilities that may help them comply with LEED prerequisites and credits. The Green Guide supports healthcare’s mission to protect and enhance individual and community health. This organization understands that renovation is more than just building for maximum energy efficiency and reducing the use of potable water. It also involves using eco-friendly work tools and furniture. With any hospital renovation project, a number of benefits are realized.

Benefits of Hospital Renovation

Environmental benefits of renovations are the most obvious ones. Using green building services for hospital renovations enhances and protects ecosystems and biodiversity. In addition, other benefits are gained such as improved air and water quality, reduction in solid waste and conservation of natural resources. In addition to the countless environmental benefits, green building services also provide economic benefits.

When preparing for any building project, including renovation, money is often an issue discussed heavily. Investors want to know that the money they put towards renovations will bring them a great return. Although some aspects of using green building services for renovations can be costly upfront, the returns make it worthwhile. Green renovation reduces operating costs and enhances asset value and profits. In addition, employee productivity and satisfaction is improved and your organization can optimize lifecycle economic performance.

Finally, there are community and health benefits that can be gained from green hospital renovations. Air, thermal and acoustic environments improve through the use of green building services for hospital renovations. In addition, patient comfort and health is improved while minimizing the strain on the local infrastructure. Overall, green building services help hospital renovations be a success and contribute to the overall quality of life and sustainability of the healthcare facility.

Green real estate includes things like alternate energy sources, energy-efficient appliances and even things like better insulation to conserve energy. New “green” homes are built with environmentally-friendly building materials, and may be built in areas that make the homes themselves more efficient. For example, a “green” home may be built into the side of a hill to conserve energy and maximize insulating properties.

Green property isn’t just for environmentally-conscious individuals. Eco-friendly real estate has practical benefits for homeowners. For example, if your property includes energy-efficient appliances and low-flow plumbing fixtures, you can save substantial costs on utility and water bills every month. If you’ve got an alternate energy source, you can use less electricity, thus lowering your energy bills. Some alternate energy sources also generate excess electricity that you can “sell back” to the utility company, in the form of a credit on your bill for electricity that you do use.

The government is getting on board with “green” housing, too. When you invest in some alternate energy sources, the government offers tax credits and write-offs that can cover a portion of the cost or the entire cost for your alternate energy sources.

For example, through the end of December 2010, you may qualify for “Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency” to offset the costs of installing energy efficient doors, windows, insulation, heating and cooling. Solar energy systems may qualify for a 30% tax credit if installed before December 2016. For detailed information on tax credits, check with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Being “green” isn’t inconvenient and something to consider just to be a “good citizen.” Going green with your property also has real financial benefits, in addition to being good for the environment. If you’re considering buying a home, look for homes with some green features to offset your living expenses and housing costs. If you’re selling a home, think about installing energy-efficient appliances or switching to “green” building materials. It’s a great selling point, and you can get tax credits for some of those improvements!

Building Green with Straw is often talked about when people are looking for ways to make their homes more sustainable. Building green is one way to create a comfortable, energy efficient and very beautiful home. So here are 10 good reasons to consider building green with straw if you are thinking about building or renovating a home.

1. Building Green With Straw Is Not So Scary: Many people find the idea of building a home quite daunting and feel that they do not possess the skills required. However, if you can lift a bale of straw and stack it on top of another bale of straw then you already have the basic skill you need to build the walls of your new home.
2. Practice Makes Perfect: The great thing about straw as a building material is that it is perfect for the owner builder. If you think you really would like to use it then you can build yourself a small shed or perhaps a chicken coop to get the feel for this great material. It’s very forgiving and the results are stunning.
3. Super Energy Efficiency Potential: This is an example of why building green with straw is a super idea. The insulation value of strawbale walls is very high and combined with good ceiling and floor insulation, double or triple glazing and basic passive solar design principles you can create a very energy efficient home.
4. Building Green with Straw uses Natural Materials: You don’t get much more natural than straw from a field. So too can you use natural rendering materials to weatherproof your walls – local mud, lime render and plasters and even earthen floors are all common ingredients in an environmentally friendly home such as those built from mud brick or strawbale.
5. Let’s face it, they are gorgeous: Have you seen a strawbale home? Have you been inside one? They ‘feel’ wonderful and this is because they breathe, they have sound qualities you just don’t get in many regular houses and although it’s difficult to explain in words as soon as you step inside one, you will know that this is a great building style.
6. Building Green with Straw allows you to reuse/recycle waste material: This is an amazing fact. Many people still set fire to the stubble in their fields after the crop has been harvested. I built my house from this waste product, mine was wheat straw but you can use rice straw, oat straw and other grain crop ‘waste’ material to build a beautiful home. An excellent example of reuse or recycle and a win for everyone.
7. Renewable Resource: In this age of growing awareness of limits to the resources we have available, straw is an excellent example of a renewable resource. No need to wait for it either, like tree crops. This is an annual plant, eat the crop at the end of the season and build a new house in the spring. I’m sure no-one actually does that but that is the potential of building green with straw.
8. Flexible and Forgiving materials and great for novice and expert alike: One of the joys of building green with straw is the flexibility of the material. Featured in many homes are the gentle curves of walls and the deep set windows and doorways. Even a novice can create wonderful and creative features in their home with straw that may have been impossible for them with more conventional materials.
9. Building Green with Straw is Empowering: This is something not often recognised when someone is considering building their own home. When you decide that you are going to begin building green with straw it can become a very empowering process. You will develop great skills, learn a new language (of building), you will meet lots of new people who share your dream and your passions and you may suddenly find that you can do far more things than you ever thought possible.
10. Become a Leader: This is a great side effect of actually building green with straw – you become someone who leads by example. You become a person who can show others what may be possible in terms of using alternative materials, using waste products, creating a home that is healthy, more sustainable and above all very beautiful and unique.

There are many more reasons to consider building green with straw and they will vary from person to person. However, ideas such as reducing waste, living more sustainably, having healthier homes and participating in activities that empower individuals, build communities and create inspiration for others are fantastic reasons to consider building green with straw.

Having realized the polluting and adverse affects of industrial development, in the past decades we tend to become more and more concerned about our environment. Concepts like sustainable development, recycling and environment protection have never been stressed like these days. Obviously, the purpose is to make a change in our mind, therefore, to make a change in the whole world − for the better.

Environment protection covers each field of our lives: from waste-management, through technological and industrial development to building constructions. We must think ahead and take all possible measures to outweigh the adverse affects of climate change. Earth’s resources are limited and there is a need for change in global thinking. Just like every change, this also begins at a personal level: start with constructing green buildings.

Steel buildings are considered green or sustainable buildings for numerous reasons. Let me mention the most important green features of steel buildings.

To start with, steel buildings are considered green for their recycled content, which means that steel buildings are composed of approximately 60 % recycled material. As steel is 100 % recyclable in the future, there is a separate market based on recycling steel. Steel is reused and recycled many times without loss of the quality of the material instead of being disposed of as it happens in the case of traditional materials.

Steel manufacturers apply state-of-the-art energy efficient methods in metal production in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Another advantage of steel buildings is that they can reduce the urban heat island (UHI) effect. The UHI is the phenomenon when urban concrete and asphalt constructions absorb heat during the day, and radiate back at night, consequently it does not let the air cool down.

UHI can be prevented through steel construction in cool as well as warmer regions. In warmer regions steel buildings’ roofs reflect light and heat. Fighting the urban heat island effect will not only keep buildings cooler but will also reduce your cooling costs. On the other hand, metal buildings in cooler climates are also effective to save energy and cut your heating bills as they are able to retain heat inside the building during the cold months.

Besides its recyclable feature, the use of regional material is also environment friendly. This will reduce transportation costs, sparing the environment from superfluous emissions and creating local jobs.

Erecting steel buildings does not require deforestation therefore contributing to the sustainability of the ecosystem. Metal buildings are fire- and rust-resistant and their maintenance is basically free.

Do the words “mobile home” make you think of run down trailer parks and shoddy construction? After decades of earning a less-than-stellar reputation, the manufactured housing industry has upped its standards and is touting advancements in green building methods. Modular homes, which are typically constructed in sections inside climate controlled warehouses and then shipped to the building site for assembly, offer consumers construction standards which are on par with or even better than many stick built homes. Modular builders usually have to adhere to local and state building codes and these homes are often subjected to the same lending guidelines as stick built properties. Mobile home construction is regulated by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development and manufacturers seek compliance with Federal Manufactured Home Construction Safety Standards. Basically, the days of builders putting out an unregulated and unsafe product are all but over.

The Process Goes Green

In recent years, government regulation companies wanting to reduce their environmental impact, and customer demand have impacted green building practices which have now become the norm for many companies in the manufactured housing industry. Companies such as Skyline Home have taken steps to eliminate chlorinated solvents and mercury in most products, recycle building wastes when possible, and implement state of the art wastewater treatment facilities. In the homes themselves, Skyline offers consumers the ability to use low voc paints, request Energy Star appliances, and add ice barriers and double strength insulated windows when available. Mobile home and modular home builder, Clayton Homes, has a stand-alone web site which allows visitors to learn about all of the energy savings benefits that come along with their Energy Saver Plus+ homes. Highlights include Low E Thermal Pane windows which, according to the site, block 70% of summer heat while retaining 70% of winter warmth. Clayton’s Energy Saver Plus+ homes also use Compact Fluorescent Lighting (CFL) which drain 75% less energy, produce 75% less heat, and can last up to ten times longer than non fluorescent bulbs. Modular homes and mobile homes can also be more energy efficient simply because they are typically smaller in size than other types of homes meaning that there is less square footage to heat and cool.

While the manufactured housing industry has not been immune to the slowdown in new home construction in recent years, the industry has begun to increase its market share. An industry group noted, in the Greenwood SC Index-Journal, that manufactured homes made up close to a quarter of new homes sold in 2009 under $200,000 with the Southeastern United State having the highest percentage of these sales. Due to better building standards and the growing demands of savvy home buyers, it appears that modular homes and mobile homes are no longer being viewed by the masses as a “low-end” housing alternative. Financing options for mobile homes still remain more limited than with traditional conforming loan products but as industry building standards continue to improve, it would not be surprising to see many of the large national lending institutions re-enter this growing market.