Riaz Adaikkalam

00400009

Global Sustainability Sem. A&B

3/7/99

Green Architecture began with the first Earth Day in 1970, and has grown in popularity as awareness of the earth’s many ecological problems become more wide spread. Professor Rocky Brittain states "I’ve been teaching this subject for twenty years and have watched interest grow. Now I could say there is some element of sustainability taught in just about every architecture school in the country."(Talarico, 1998) Economic factors have also helped the green movement by causing changes in building materials, and technology. This is most notable in changes to heating and cooling systems, and improvements in insulation and window construction which decrease heat loss and therefore decrease heating and cooling costs. Also, "Alternatives including engineered lumber, made from wood chips or strands laminated together have become commonplace…[this is a consequence]…the rise in wood prices and decline in wood quality due to the lack of properly managed forests." (http://www.reddown.com/featartll.html.) Not only are these materials more cost efficient, they also often outperform solid wood.

Affordability is of vital importance if green architecture is going to become wide spread in a capitalistic economy. Gail Lindsey, chairman of the AIA Committee on the Environment states: "Until recently, being green was something of a luxury, reserved for homeowners who had enough money to buy triple-pane argon-filled glass windows or wool wall-to-wall carpeting. But with the growing availability of less expensive green materials, this is no longer true. Sustainable design is a balancing act, a matter of concentrating the architect’s time and the client’s resources on choices that will do the most good. We’ve learned that a house doesn’t have to be alternative or extreme to be green. If we can find a way to lesson the ecological impact of production houses, even tract houses, then we’re getting somewhere."(Talarico, 1998)

Another area in which work is being done to improve green architecture is in developing definable quantifiable ways of assessing the greenness of both building products and structures. "The AIA Committee on the Environment, is working to bring quantitative measures to the subject and to make information about sustainability easier to understand and use. The committee has divided green design into five areas: site and land use (including transportation issues), energy efficiency, materials, indoor ecology, and waste reduction."(Talarico, 1998)

Lynn Simon an environmental architect and consultant has created a system for evaluating building products. "Simon evaluates a green product with the following checklist: Is it locally produced? Is it from a sustainable or renewable resource? Is it reuseable or salvageable if the house is disassembled later? Does it contain recycled products? Were toxic by-products created during the manufacturing process? How much energy is required to create the product? Is there any post-installation off-gassing? How easily maintained is the product? How long will it last? More obvious considerations include the materials availability (because they tend to be region-specific, many green products are not widely distributed), ease of instillation, and cost."(Talarico, 1998)

Also important to the future of green architecture is communication between architects and craftsmen and between clients and bankers. Craftsmen will need experience and instruction in the use of new environmental building materials and bankers need to become more confident in the market value and ecological necessity of green buildings. "The challenge is to incorporate as many green strategies and technologies as possible without increasing the cost and complexity of the project so much that it becomes impractical."(Talarico, 1998)

The green building movement is beginning to effect American society beyond the basic level of homeowners, architects and builders. For example, Austin, Texas has begun to implement a green building program at the civic level. The system encourages use of green methods and materials. Local buildings are then rated with a four star system. "Potential home buyers can then decide which level of environmental awareness they feel comfortable with for their budget. Austin’s Green Building Program, focuses on four principals, including; (1) To conserve energy, water, and other natural resources. (2) To preserve the health of our environment. (3) To strengthen our local economy. (4) To promote a high quality of life for the citizens of Austin." (http:www.reddawn.com/featart11.html)

A project in Hopland, California that exemplifies green architecture at work is The Real Goods Retail Showroom. Real Goods, a distributor of self sufficiency and energy conservation products, wanted a showroom that embodied it’s ecological ideals. The showroom will be built with non-toxic recycled materials and will have a photovoltaics power system. The building’s curved roof will supply natural lighting to the interior without glare. "Operable windows with low-e glazing will allow natural ventilation and will mitigate heat gain. The lower eight feet of the building’s curved back wall is constructed of straw bales covered with stucco…the glue-lam structure is of recycled fir, while the roofing membrane will be of recycled car tires. The floor slab and columns are of fly-ash concrete (using a coal-combustion by-product that can be substituted for approximately a third of Portland cement in concrete." (Crosbie, 1995)

In conclusion, the last twenty years have seen quite an improvement in the popularity and use of green architecture. Green architecture continues to grow as society begins to understand the importance of preserving the environment. Technology is improving, lowering the cost and increasing the quality of green building products. Professionals are working to set and implement standards for the quality of green products and buildings. All these factors seem to point to a promising future for green architecture.

Crosbie, Michael J. "A Maturing Green Architecture". Progressive Architecture. January 95

Talarico, Wendy. "The Nature of Green Architecture". Architectural Record. April 98. Volume 186

Issue 4.

Green Architecture In the 21^st Century. Residential Environmental Design Featured Article.

http://www.reddawnb.com/featart11.html