As modern climate models have better understood the severe consequences of climate change, the focus has been on reducing overall carbon dioxide emissions. While most schools in the United States teach about the effects of carbon dioxide on the climate, and most people think of the so-called “greenhouse effect” on the climate, the relationship between green buildings and the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions is often overlooked. However, it is vitally important to understand this link so that builders, architects and engineers understand the great social value of green buildings, not to mention the value they have for their own pockets. There are two main ways in which green buildings reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which in turn helps the overall climate.
The concept of green buildings aims to comprehensively minimize the negative impact and maximize the positive impact that a building has on its natural environment and its human occupants. Regardless of the system that guides its implementation, the concept of green buildings remains universal. In addition to that, the enormous industry and job creation that exists around the development of green buildings continue to grow. Sustainable Investment Group (SIG) is a company dedicated to the dissemination of green building techniques and technologies around the world.
The Green Building Council established the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system in the late 1990s to create a central framework for coding and verifying the effective implementation of green building practices. Green buildings combine a variety of approaches to practices, technologies and materials at all stages of a building's life cycle. Others employ passive solar building design strategies that physically position building elements, such as windows, walls, awnings and gardens, to maximize the benefits of cooling shade in summer and solar heat in winter. Another important area of focus is advanced building controls, which can be applied to new buildings or modernized to existing buildings to improve their energy efficiency, increase the integration of clean energy sources, and coordinate electricity consumption within buildings and with the power grid.
Implementing green building measures that ultimately lead to these performance benefits also translates into economic benefits for multiple stakeholders. In addition, green buildings are constructed in a way that minimizes inefficiencies and takes advantage of modern materials science to reduce overall emissions, even during construction. Priority areas for green buildings include the efficient use of energy, water and other resources, the quality of the indoor environment, and impacts on the natural environment. The best thing about building with sustainability in mind is that the same practices that protect the environment from excessive carbon dioxide production have the beneficial side effect of often reducing the building owner's overall expenses in maintaining the building.
The substantial decarbonization of the construction sector requires short-term measures to reduce energy demand and the carbon intensity of both existing and new buildings. Some of the greatest environmental benefits of green buildings are achieved after the construction phase has been completed and the building undergoes a daily operational routine. In the area of advanced building controls, PNNL researchers have developed techniques that reveal all aspects of energy consumption and production in buildings. .
