The Basics Of Green Architecture

You would have probably heard a lot about building ‘green houses, about using ‘green designs to conserve our natural resources and save money. And perhaps you wonder how? Well to answer those questions we must place in perspective what our average normal buildings consume. A rough estimation of consumption of normal commercial buildings in the US point to about 18 percent of the total energy consumption and 33 percent of the total electricity consumption. On an average every year such buildings generate about 18 percent of total manmade CO2 emissions in the US. Green designs aim at cutting these figures, which in turn yield many benefits.

Green designs approach the entire process of building houses in a holistic manner. The designers take into consideration the ‘lay of the land, availability of local building material, suitable adoption of traditional green designs being used by indigenous people of that area, or from an area with similar weather characteristics, new breakthroughs in ‘green technologies and the best incentives the government can offer to produce a green building or a green township.

How do designers use ‘lay of the land for their green designs? They study the surrounding areas and determine the flow of wind so as to design windows and ventilation shafts, which negate the need for air conditioners. They calculate the annual duration of day and night of a particular place to determine the suitability of using various solar capture devices. Technology is brought in to control the switching on and off of lights according to the daylight to conserve electricity. They check the consistency and composition of soil, the depth of the water table and then calculate the best way to utilize nearby water resources and develop water-harvesting processes best suited for the site. Saving water by using smaller cisterns and recycling the water used in bathing for watering the gardens are some of the steps involved in Green Designs. Scientifically designed roofs, channel rainwater to soak pits, which help invigorate the underlying water table, are some other ways that are incorporated in green designs.

Green designs use concepts such as Compressed Earth Blocks, Cob Houses, Earth Shelters, Straw Bale, Rammed Earth, Adobe (not the software!) construction and likewise. Each of these designs has its pros and cons and of course applicability depending on the area where one decides to use them. The vital detail is that such designs are no longer the in the realms of conceptual art but are being used by mainstream architects. Green designs are thus the harbingers of future architecture.

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