Eco-friendly Buildings and The Benefits

When people first think about building or upgrading their existing building into an eco-friendly building, they quickly reject the idea because they think that it is going to be too expensive to upgrade and will not benefit them too much. General opinion about eco-friendly buildings is that they requires a very large initial investment in comparison to the originally calculated cost of the building and the cost of upgrading will not be outweighed by the benefits. This notion is completely wrong because people normally only consider the environmental benefits of eco-friendly buildings while unknowingly ignoring all the other benefits to society and themselves. These people can easily ignore problems that are not right in their face and they decide that they do not want to waste any extra money to do something they cannot even see the effects of. Even though most people are quick to disregard the options for upgrading their existing building or creating a new eco-friendly building, the long term benefits outweigh the small initial investment required.

Founded in 1993, the United States Green Building Council was set up as a national nonprofit company that promotes sustainability in the design of buildings. They developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system to rate new and existing buildings according to their environmental attributes and sustainable features. LEED is the “common benchmark for sustainability” (California) and is quickly becoming the standard for green building design. Buildings can incorporate different ways of creating a more eco-friendly building into their initial design and it will be assessed by the USGBC for its LEED certification. Buildings are separated into different levels of certification based off of how eco-friendly they are and there are countless ways for buildings to invest in their building depending on their specific circumstances.

Surprisingly enough, there are not plenty of architecture firms that even build eco-friendly buildings today. This extremely low demand for eco-friendly buildings can be explained by the fact that people associate eco-friendly buildings with adding more money to their project to help the environment. Some people have this mentality that is if it does not directly affect me then it is not my problem and somebody else will deal with it. Some people do and some do not understand that being eco-friendly is beneficial to the environment but a lot of people just do not care enough about the environment enough to want to waste their money on it. These people who do not care, refuse to believe that there is such a thing as climate change or if they do believe, they do not believe that humans are responsible for climate change. Some people will not even admit that there is anything wrong and either believe that nothing has changed or that all of the change is natural. Sallie Baliunas, who has a Ph.D from Harvard in astrophysics, says that being eco-friendly is just a waste of money because “cuts in greenhouse gas emissions averts no meaningful temperature rise” (Baliunas) and if we wanted to have any effect we would have to be reducing a lot more. When people hear things like this they believe that it is just a waste of money to try to prevent something you can not stop. What they do not know is, even if these predictions are true, there are many reasons other than reducing carbon emissions that should convince people to want to help create a more eco-friendly world.

Eco-friendly buildings are able to reduce emission as everybody is aware because they are designed to conserve energy consumption. This reduced energy usage will reduce the emissions of natural pollutants created through the burning of fossil fuels which is the main source of nonrenewable energy that is used in most buildings. These pollutants that are released into the atmosphere when burning fossil fuels are considered to be the main causes of climate change. Eco-friendly buildings can help reduce emission of pollutants through many different ways customisable to the buildings environment and its occupants. Buildings can employ different methods such as solar power generators, maximize the use of sunlight opposed to fluorescent lighting, and facilitate public transportation to decrease the consumption of fossil fuels. Reduction in the overall use of energy in buildings that rely on electricity generated by the burning of fossil fuels also helps to reduce emissions that pollute the world and decrease global warming.

Even though there are a lot of sources for energy, renewable sources are not being used enough around the world. Most of the time the electricity that we pay for, whether we know it or not, is made from the burning of fossil fuels. Inadvertently we are contributing to the problem of climate change depending on where we get out electricity from. Sometimes we have a choice and we can buy electricity created from renewable resources but other times we cannot because they are too far away. Even though renewable energy is not generated widely around the world, people should not be discouraged if they want to do their part to help prevent climate change. People and companies who cannot directly purchase energy made from renewable resources can still purchase green certificates. Green certificates are equivalent to “buying ownership of the reduced emissions” (California) to support facilities that produce energy from renewable sources elsewhere even though they are buying energy created through the burning of fossil fuels. If more people took the initiative to support renewable energy then it might become more readily available around the world and help to decrease climate change which benefits everything on earth.

Another environmental benefit from building or retrofitting current building designs to a more eco-friendly one is water conservation. The two major ways that eco-friendly buildings can conserve water are through the collection of rainwater and the recycling of greywater. By creating a building that captures rain water, that water then can be repurposed for other uses or even watering indoor and outdoor plants instead of having to pay more money for the water. It is shown in studies that if methods used in standard eco-friendly buildings are applied for capturing rainwater then water reduction “over 50% for landscaping” (California) can be expected. Greywater on the other hand is waste water collected indoors, including used water from bathroom sinks and washing machines among other things excluding toilet water which can not be reused. If this water from indoor plumbing is collected after being used and then repurposed it can “reduce water use at or below code/common practice by over 30%” (California). Greywater can be repurposed for other tasks such as watering plants and to be used in toilets among other things, saving clean water for drinking and future use.

Waste reduction is also a very important factor in the construction of eco-friendly buildings. When you first design a building you want to consider the deconstruction of the building as well to try to prevent a full scale demolition of buildings. Full scale demolition of buildings creates a lot of waste that ends up in landfills and then the building requires all new materials to be made for the building both of which have negative effects on the environment. The goal of eco-friendly buildings are to reuse the materials that you have salvaged from the old building so that waste is reduced. By reusing more building materials from the old building means that you will require less new materials for the building and help support the environment. Other than just reusing old materials, all new materials should be durable and easy to repair or maintain in order to ensure that the materials will be used for as long as possible. Another way of reducing waste is the “use of structural materials in a dual role as finish material,” (California) where you are able to limit the quantity of material needed to complete the building. All of these methods of reducing waste in the deconstruction of buildings are meant to encourage new building designs that are flexible so that everything that can have multi-uses does.

The government provides many financial incentives for people who invest in building or retrofitting their buildings into eco-friendly ones. These incentives are meant to encourage people to think twice about how expensive they believe it will be to upgrade their current plans to ones that are eco-friendly. Even without these incentives, there are a lot of ways that owners save money in the long run from upgrading to eco-friendly buildings. Studies show that “homeowners accrue their upfront investment ten times over the building’s life as a result of the savings” (Levin 39) from their eco-friendly building design. Many people do not consider the long run effects of converting to an eco-friendly design when deciding what to build and this is why the government needs to have these incentives for them upgrade. Based off of these long term savings, it would be unreasonable for anybody to think that the small initial investment is not outweighed by the larger savings over time.

Eco-friendly buildings are designed to provide the maximum amount of natural light as they can in order to reduce the buildings dependence on electricity. This helps owners save money is through reduced electricity use, while at the same time reducing emissions of pollutants that would have been created if the energy was needed. Eco-friendly buildings on average use “30% less purchased energy than conventional buildings” (California) which helps to bring down the cost of electricity which is most likely to increase as time goes by. Some studies even show that there are “better sales in stores that utilize natural light” (Green) which is another thing that encourages owners of stores to upgrade their buildings. Photovoltaics are an option that can be looked into when designing an eco-friendly building since they can be used to “generate 20% of [the buildings]power on site” (California) which will help decrease energy costs further in the long run. The decrease in the dependence on electricity

will help businesses run more efficiently because they do not need to worry about sudden changes in operational costs due to changing electricity costs or power outages to hurt their bottom line. It is better for the maintenance of the building, the environment, and the owner’s pockets in the long run to invest in creating or even just retrofitting their buildings current design to a more eco-friendly one.

A lot of energy is required to regulate the temperature inside buildings so that it is comfortable for those people living or working there. Buildings that are constructed poorly have trouble with temperature moderation and cannot keep heat well in the winter and keep cool well in the summer. In order to fix the effects of poor temperature moderation we tend to just turn on the heat in the winter or the air conditioning during the summer but the extra use of electricity contributes to climate change and increases in your electricity bill, which may seem more important at the time. There are ways to help buildings regulate temperature better during the winter and summer when demand for electricity is the highest. The urban heat island effect is a serious problem that occurs in cities where the temperature on average is hotter than it should be because buildings are all crowded together and they all absorb heat. One way that eco-friendly buildings combat this problem is by “increasing the reflectivity of roofs and other typically dark surfaces” (Green) since darker surfaces absorb more sunlight and increase the temperature inside the buildings faster. When it gets hotter than it should inside the buildings then people turn on their air condition units and consume a lot more energy than is needed. The air conditioning units also contribute to the added heat and pollution in the cities since they are basically dumping all of the hot air outside the window to cool the room down. The heat island effect is not only bad because it heats up buildings but it also “directly contributes to reduced ozone creation” (California) another cause of global warming. With better temperature control inside buildings, it will help cut down on “the large human health costs associated with smog” (Green) because there will be a decrease the pollutants, such as those that are released by the air conditioner and heaters, that form smog. This is beneficial for both the owners of the building and the people who work or live inside because they save money while preventing possible health problems.

Studies over the last ten years have shown that “employee productivity has been positively correlated to indoor environmental conditions,” (Green) meaning that eco-friendly buildings are increasing employee productivity in the workplace. One example is that of VeriFone, a company that decided to retrofit their existing building so that it would more eco-friendly. They discovered that over the first eighteen months “absenteeism rates were down 40% and productivity was up by more than 5%” (California) which is great news for companies looking to increase profits. This is all possible because the retrofitted building is able to cut indoor pollutants and improve indoor environmental quality which helped the people who work long days cooped up inside. Less people got sick at work from the poor air quality inside the building because of the increased air circulation helped keep everybody healthier. Gary Jay Saulson saw that “absenteeism has decreased, productivity has increased, recruitment is better and turnover less” (California). Another benefit of owning a building that is eco-friendly is that people who support eco-friendly buildings will want to work for a company that also believes the same way, increasing recruitment. People who understand that the eco-friendly building has helped make the working environment better will understand the added health benefits for themselves and decide to seek and then stay employed there.

The improved health of people working and living inside eco-friendly buildings comes from a better indoor environment. Green buildings “emphasizes ventilation and non-toxic, low emitting materials” (Green) in order to provide people working and living inside a better environment for their health. Eco-friendly buildings are able to increase air circulation through the use of less air conditioning and heat so that windows can be opened and natural air is able to circulate. The better air quality leads to less pollutants in the air of the building and that will help decrease “respiratory problems, allergies, nausea, headaches, and skin rashes” (Green) all of which make people working and living there sick over time. The decrease in sudden temperature changes inside because of better insulation and ability for heat to be absorbed by the building helps decrease the chance of bacteria and mold growth inside the building which may also get people sick. Upgrading a building’s design is guaranteed way to see long term improvements in the health of everybody who works or lives inside of these eco-friendly buildings.

Eco-friendly buildings and even those that are just retrofitted to become more eco-friendly are shown in studies to help increase the overall comfort of people working or living inside of the buildings. PNC bank decided to upgraded the designs of a few of their branches to a eco-friendly design in an effort to help the environment and increase the number of customers that went there. They commonly took surveys of their workers to better understand how they can help improve their working environment and they discovered that on average there is “improved comfort among green branch occupants” (Katz 55). This improved comfort in the workplace for PNC workers makes workers feel better going to work everyday, encourages more customers to stop by, and helps with reduction of the carbon footprint of the PNC banks. Added comfort helps make workplaces and homes better for everybody working or living inside and is just an added bonus to all the other important benefits of upgrading.

All of these investments that have been made to the building to make it eco-friendly will also increase the value of the property when it is to be sold. The added initial investment cost is basically passed on to the buyer if you are planning on building or renovating and then selling. The property itself will be more in demand because of its eco-friendly design which is meant to lower operating costs by conserving energy on a day to day basis. This makes owning the building cheaper for the buyer who will appreciate that and want to pay a little more money for a discounted electricity bill every month. Another reason that people will want eco-friendly buildings more is because of the “easy maintenance of green buildings” (Green). There will be less problems with the maintenance of building since it is designed to be durable in order to prevent materials from being wasted when needing to rebuild. There will also be lower vacancy rates because people will have a healthier working and living environment and will want to continue to work there. The increased demand for eco-friendly buildings to both live and work in will make this small initial investment pay off when you are trying to sell or rent out the building.

People who dismiss the idea of upgrading their current building designs or building to more eco-friendly one are ignoring all of the benefits not only with regards to the environment but also economically and socially. People and companies who do not decide to pursue these eco-friendly options are hurting not only the environment which everybody depends on but also their own pockets financially and the health of everybody living or working there. People and companies should feel good when upgrading their construction plans because they are doing a good deed for the environment and the long term benefits outweigh the added cost to upgrade. Since global warming is a silent killer and you do not see its effects directly in your everyday life, it is hard to get people to commit extra money to their building. It makes no reasonable sense why anybody would not upgrade their building designs or retrofit their old buildings to newer and more eco-friendly designs to help themselves, the people who work or live inside, and the environment.