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A Greener Building : by Nino De La Rosa
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Hello everyone. Nino from the band Driving The Effect here. Like most bands that are trying to make it, but have not received that nice cushy contract, every member of my band has a day-job. Throughout the workweek I work as an Electrical Designer for a local engineering firm. I know…I know…. Computer geek! But it is much different then that. Once I got deep into the engineering field I realized that as an individual I could make a difference, and help the environment. The company that I work for prides itself on working with clients, and letting them know the benefits of designing buildings that are environment friendly. These buildings are called green buildings.
No the green buildings I am talking about are not where shifty law breaking individuals grow an endless supply of illegal plants. These green buildings benefit the environment and making a cleaner tomorrow. I know what you are thinking. Why are green buildings so beneficial to the environment?
Well here goes the important stuff. Green buildings use building materials that when compared to competing brands, have a reduced effect on the environment throughout their life cycle. These materials have can have a higher recycled content, lower toxicity, a higher energy efficiency, a higher biodegradability, or any combination of these properties.
In words that are more understandable, it means that by using different building materials a new building can have less of a bad impact on it’s environment, and when the time comes for the building to be destroyed, most of the materials used can either be reused or disposed of easily.
These buildings range from large industrial manufacturing facilities, to hospitals and laboratories, to residential housing. The demand for green buildings is increasing more and more as people become more self conscious of their surroundings and what new construction can do to an existing habitat. Still not convinced? Well here’s the best part.
Green buildings consume far less power then the stereotypical building, and although the initial construction costs may come in a little bit higher then the average building, the building will eventually “pay for itself” so to speak in reduced energy bills. Each and every system within a Green Building is designed to strict specifications to use the least amount of energy possible.
Lighting systems typically use occupancy sensors and time clocks to turn lights off when no one is in a specific area for an extended period of time. Day lighting is harnessed to it’s full extent, providing not only light inside the building, but often times charging solar panels to create an alternative energy source.
Water systems work along side of heating and ventilation systems to create even more alternative energy sources such as steam turned turbines, and also to form other methods of creating higher efficiency systems.
It is important for all of us to use any and every idea we have to preserve the environment. New and inventive ways of generating alternative sources of energy are important to creating a cleaner tomorrow. It is important for all of us to do our part in preserving the environment; otherwise it will not be there for our grandchildren to have the same choice.
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