green building

builders east anglia

The process of green building incorporates environmental considerations into every phase of the home building process. That means that during the design, construction, and operation of a home, energy and water efficiency, resource efficient building design and materials, indoor environmental quality, homeowner maintenance, and the home’s overall impact on the environment are all taken into account.

Guiding Principle—SITE DESIGN, PREPARATION, AND DEVELOPMENT

Resource-efficient site design and development practices help reduce the environmental impacts and improve the energy performance of new housing. For instance, site design principles such as saving trees, constructing onsite storm water retention/infiltration features, and orienting houses to maximize passive solar heating and cooling are basic processes used in the design and construction of green homes.

Guiding Principle—RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

Most successful green homes started with the consideration of the environment at the design phase—the time at which material selection occurs. Creating resource efficient designs and using resource efficient materials can maximize function while optimizing the use of natural resources. For instance, engineered wood products can help optimize resources by using materials in which more than 50% more of the log is converted into structural timber than conventional dimensional timber. Resource efficiency is also about reducing job-site waste. Invariably, there are leftover materials from the construction process. Developing and implementing a construction waste management plan helps to reduce the quantity of landfill material. Thus, by creating an effective construction waste management plan and taking advantage of available recycling facilities and markets for recyclable materials, construction waste can be reduced by at least two-thirds, creating potential cost savings for builders and reducing the burden on landfill space.
Lastly, basing the selection of building materials on their environmental impact can be tricky. For instance, a product might be renewable, but on the other hand it takes a relatively great amount of energy to transport the product to a project’s job site. One way to compare products is to look at a product’s or a home’s life-cycle environmental impacts through a process called life-cycle analysis (LCA). An LCA of a building product covers its environmental impacts “cradle to grave” through six basic steps:

1) Raw material acquisition
2) Product manufacturing process
3) Home building process
4) Home maintenance and operation
5) Home demolition, and
6) Product reuse, recycling, or disposal.

There are numerous reasons why building products are not commonly selected
via LCAs. One of the issues is the availability of data—there is a lack of data to feed into tools that allow for an LCA on a product or system.

Guiding Principle—ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Energy consumption has far-reaching environmental impacts: from the mining of fossil-fuel energy sources to the environmental emissions from burning non-renewable energy sources. And each home consumes energy year after year, meaning that the environmental impacts associated with that use accrue over time. Therefore, energy efficiency is weighted heavily in a green building program. Energy consumption occurs not only during the operation of a home but also during the construction of a home and, indirectly, in the production of the materials that go into the home. Although the energy used to heat and cool a home over its life far outweighs that to manufacture the materials and construct it, the large number of homes built renders the energy used during the construction phase significant.

Guiding Principle—WATER EFFICIENCY

The mean per capita indoor daily water use in today’s homes is slightly over 50 gallons. Implementing water conservation measures can reduce usage to fewer than 35 gallons. For this reason, green homes are especially welcomed in areas affected by long- and short-term drought conditions. The importance of water resources is becoming increasingly recognized,. Choices between sending water to growing urban areas and making water available for irrigation highlight the issues surrounding the scarcity of this valuable resource. Green homes often conserve water both indoors and out. More efficient water delivery systems indoors and native and drought-resistant landscaping choices outdoors can help prevent unnecessary waste of valuable water resources.
Communities can obtain additional benefits when builders effectively use native species in landscaping. Current research and practice have shown that natural processes can be a successful means of filtering and removing contaminants from storm water and wastewater.

Guiding Principle—INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

Healthy indoor environments attract many people to green building. After energy efficiency, the quality of a home’s indoor air is often cited as the most important feature of green homes. An increase in reported allergies and respiratory ailments and the use of chemicals that can off-gas from building materials have contributed to a heightened awareness of the air we breathe inside our homes. Even though there is no authoritative definition of healthy indoor air, there are measures that can mitigate the effects of potential contaminants including controlling the source, diluting the source, and capturing the source through filtration.

Guiding Principle—OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, AND HOMEOWNER EDUCATION

Improper or inadequate maintenance can defeat the designer’s and builder’s best efforts to create a resource efficient home. For example, homeowners often fail to change air filters regularly or neglect to operate bath and kitchen exhaust fans to remove moist air. Many homeowners are unaware of the indoor environmental quality impact of using common substances in and around the house such as pesticides, fertilizers, and common cleaning agents.
By providing homeowners with a manual that explains proper operation and maintenance procedures ,offers alternatives to toxic cleaning substances and lawn and garden chemicals, and points out water-saving practices, a builder can help assure that the green home that was so carefully built will also be operated in an environmentally responsible manner

HOW HOMEOWNERS CAN BENEFIT FROM GREEN BUILDING

The previous section highlighted the environmental benefits of green building practices. However, green building is much more than just reducing a home’s environmental footprint. Homeowners can also realize direct benefits by owning a green home. Here are some of the primary benefits that owners of green homes have experienced compared with owners of conventional homes:

• Lower operating costs—Homeowners receive less expensive utility bills because of energy and water efficiency measures.
• Increased comfort—Green homes have relatively even temperatures throughout the home, with fewer drafts and better humidity control.
• Improved environmental quality—By following these guidelines, builders pay extra attention to construction details that control moisture, choose materials that contain fewer chemicals, and design air exchange/filtration systems that can contribute to a healthier indoor environment.
• Enhanced durability and less maintenance—Green homes incorporate building materials and construction details that strive to increase the useful life of the individual components and the whole house. Longer lasting materials not only require fewer resources for replacement but also reduce maintenance and repair costs. Green homes have lawns that require less weeding and watering, building elements that require less maintenance, and more durable building components that reduce the time needed for upkeep.

It is important to note that a builder can do only so much when it comes to how the home will perform. Homeowners play a big role in the house performance and, therefore, should be instructed on how to operate the green home as it was intended.

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