Green Building Trends
Posted on: Saturday, September 19th, 2009 at 6:35 am
Green building is a phenomenon that aims at instilling environmental-friendly practices in contractors and others involved in construction of buildings. Some of these trends that have been adopted include: substituting cement with other materials that are less toxic. These include fly ash, rice hull, silica fume and slag. Just like cement these materials are durable but cause no adverse effects on the environment. Another trend is use of low or no volatile organic compounds paints that are a major air pollutant. An alternative is the latex-based paints.
Another trend is use of bamboo for making floors as opposed to the hardwoods. Bamboos are beautiful and grow very fast. Further still, builders can incorporate equipment used for harvesting and storing rain water in the buildings as this reduces demand on the country’ s water supply. Installing of solar panels is also a green building practice as it makes use of the sun-a natural resource.
One of the most under-discussed building blocks in green design is the siting of the building. Before looking at any construction practices or materials you should know the sun and wind patterns of your site. This knowledge is essential in the placement of windows and doors, and dictates where to insulate and where to let the environment in.
I grow Bamboo in my home garden for the very reason you mentioned, it grows fast. It makes a great privacy screen to shield out large adjoining buildings which are common in suburbia these days. It is also very strong which Asians have known for centuries, hence it’s use in construction. The thing about Bamboo though is that it does require a little extra water to achieve it’s optimum growing potential. This is where rainwater harvesting can become important. It’s all about making the most of the resources we have, being smart and starting a sustainable cycle.