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Green Building

CONVENTIONAL CONSTRUCTION vs. GREEN BUILDING

There are essentially two types of home construction available today:

  1. Conventional Construction consists of the industry standard designs, technologies, and materials responsible for an       enormous amount of energy waste and environmental degradation, as well as poor indoor air quality within the home.
  2. Green Building is an alternative based on fundamental principles of energy efficiency and natural resource conservation.       Green Building utilizes emerging technologies and materials to increase the quality and longevity of the structure, without       compromising the welfare of the environment. Green Building puts a premium on maintaining a toxin-free indoor       atmosphere.

Amidst the rising cost of energy and the consequences of global warming, the home building industry is starting to make the transition to a more energy efficient, environmentally sustainable approach to building houses. This transition is well established within the home building industry in many western states.

Unfortunately, the status quo is firmly entrenched in most other parts of the country, and there are still only a small percentage of architects, contractors, builders, and trade professionals who have thoroughly studied and are committed to the Green Building process.

Therefore, if you are not well educated in Green Building, you may well end up with a house that exhibits poor energy efficiency, excessive natural resource consumption, and less than optimal indoor air quality.

What Does Green Building Look Like?

Green Building does not necessarily look different from a conventionally designed and constructed house. In fact, aesthetically, a house that is built "green" can take the appearance of just about any architectural style. However, there are two main differences between Green Building and conventional construction:

  1. How the design and function of the house relates to its natural surroundings, such as sunlight and temperature.
  2. How the components of a house work together to function as a system.

These two Green Building elements can combine to transform an ordinary house into an Ultra- Energy Efficient, Environmentally Friendly, Healthy Home.


THE COMPONENTS OF GREEN BUILDING

For today's home owner, the sensible choice is to build green. However, the rapid growth of the Green Building industry has led to a confusing myriad of design, technology, and building material choices that increase energy efficiency, are environmentally friendly, and improve indoor air quality. Some of these include the following:

  • Passive Solar Energy Strategies
  • Internal Thermal Mass Strategies
  • Solar Energy Systems
  • Solar Hot Water Systems
  • Passive Heating and Cooling Load Reduction       Strategies
  • "Smart" Lighting Technologies
  • Passive Daylight Design Strategies
  • Specialized High-Performance Window      Selection
  • Whole-House Automated Climate Control      Systems
  • Energy Recovery Ventilators
  • Advanced Sealing and Moisture Management
  • Advanced Insulation Strategies
  • In-Floor Heating Systems
  • Waste Heat Recovery Systems
  • Tankless Water Heating Technology
  • On-demand Hot Water Circulation Systems
  • High-Performance Water Efficiency Fixtures
  • High Performance, Sealed Combustion HVAC Systems
  • Energy Star and Sealed Combustion Appliances
  • Compliance with ASHRAE Ventilation Standard 62.2
  • Whole-House HEPA Filter Technology
  • Environmentally Sustainable Exterior/ Interior Material      Selection

  • Zero-VOC Interior Finishing and Furnishing Selections
  • Active or Passive Radon Mitigation Strategy


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