he building sector has major impacts not only on economic and social life, but also on the natural and built environment. Various building activities, such as the design, construction, use, refurbishment and demolition of buildings, directly and indirectly affect the environmental performance of the sector.
A green building is an environmentally sustainable building, designed, constructed and operated to minimize the total environmental impacts.
Sustainable properties are the future of the real estate industry. Consumer demand, residential builders, federal government incentives, and local government policy are making this happen.
Green Building Best Practices
- Look for designs that use energy as close to its sources as possible to minimize conversion losses: passive solar heat, for examples, over electrical resistance heating.
- Consider heat transmissions in all its forms – convection, conduction, and radiation – in selecting building materials and building practices.
- Create an effective air barrier and make sure everyone on the build team understand their role in maintaining it through various stages of construction.
- Include some form of mechanical ventilation in the house and strive for a “pressure neutral” interior as minimum requirement.
- Make sure construction details are able to handle water movement via gravity, diffusion, and capillary action.
- In areas of high noise, consider window upgrades, sound barriers, and alternatives to conventional stick framing.
