Green (sustainable) house design
What exactly does this mean? It can mean many things to many people. Some will immediately think of sustainable material use, whereas others will be thinking, "Go solar, go wind power!" In truth both of these are totally correct. But true green (or cal it sustainable) house or building design is a lot more than just these two areas, important as they may be. I like to sum my philosophy on the subject as follows:
"Green building design is a holistic methodology of getting the most out of what resources are given to us with the minimum impact on out environment, both present and future."
I l like to think of green house or building design falling under 3 broad areas.
- Choice of location and building siting or orientation
- Choice of materials used in construction
- Use of energy saving, or mitigating, equipment
Over the next 3 pages, we will look at each of these areas, how they fit into the process, and how they may be achieved. One point I would like to emphasize it that, despite much comment to the opposite, careful planning and implementation of green building design and construction can be as efficient and cost effective (many times, more so) as conventional, wasteful, environmentally damaging construction methods.
| Location and siting > |
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