How are conventional buildings burden on resources and what are Green Buildings?

How are conventional buildings burden on resources and what are Green Buildings?

A Normal day, for almost every Indian, starts with the worry of reaching their respective offices situated in sky-scrapers; spending the entire day in their cubicles, and then heading towards the concrete home every evening! The Rat race never ends. It is certain that we are all living in a concrete jungle.

However, in everyday’s hustle and bustle, we have been neglecting our environment. Yes, the same environment that has given us almost everything, so that we can survive- Land to live upon, fresh air from trees, flora, fauna and the list is endless. Concretization has created a profound effect on all of us. The sad part is that the conventional buildings, does not really care for the environment. Instead, is one of the reasons for damaging it fiercely!

These buildings are increasingly consuming limited resources and thus can steadily deprive our future generations of the already depleting resources. To state a fact, such buildings consume 40 per cent of the world’s resources, including 12 per cent of its water, and up to 40 per cent of the energy we use.

Conventional buildings produce 40 per cent of waste going to land and generate 40 per cent of all air emissions including Green House Gases. The problem lies in the fact that construction industry is among India’s fastest growing sectors, contributing about 10 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product and so cannot be ceased or slowed down.

This construction industry in India is growing at a rate of 9.2 percent as against the world’s average of 5.5 percent.1 By the year 2050, residential, institutional and commercial buildings are expected to consume as much as 38 per cent of global energy production and to release about 3800 megatons of carbon in the atmosphere.2

Such heavy amount of Green House Gas production would be disastrous for future generations, as the non-renewable resources are on the verge of extinction. So just think as to the quality of air that our generation leaves behind for the future?

The optimum solution that can save the humanity from this impending inferno is undoubtedly – “Going Green”.

Green Buildings are the perfect panacea for this predicament. In simple words, Green buildings save water, energy and thus help reducing operational costs over a period of time. Sustainability is the need of the hour. The general perception is ‘adopting Green designs are costly and can pinch our pockets.’ This is just a perception. A green built home will hold its price over the long run, with green houses being evaluated for 10 - 20 per cent higher values than similar to normal built home. Such home help save a lot in terms of lighting, heating/cooling and supply of potable water.

It would not be wrong to say that cost of green buildings - are only fractionally higher than that of conventional buildings, but the overall returns are greater in terms of water and energy consumptions. Though, awareness through media is slowly pushing people to ‘Go Green’ and become more environment- friendly, yet more rigorous efforts are required. And we can certainly start this revolution by adopting green measures for our Home and offices. This would be the First step to a Green Revolution.