A friend was in a real mood to show affection for his architect pals during a recent party.
“You architects, you are really cute people”, he said.
Everybody around got interested in an instant.
“You are fond of creating new trends and give them such attractive names- green architecture, sustainable architecture, eco-friendly architecture- you are so cute, you serve old wine in a new bottle and make new business for yourselves”, he continued.
An architect friend tried to interrupt but he just wouldn’t listen.
“Sun and wind orientation, wasting less water, emphasis on energy efficiency- what nonsense, wasn’t you doing all this before as well?” He kept up his tirade.
It was time to step in. It was time to clear the air about the intentions of the building community, time to tell him, and for that matter to tell everyone around, that green architecture is no longer an option, it’s a necessity in fact.
A tall, bespectacled architect with an air of quite self-confidence patted his shoulder to calm him down and said, “Do you really have an idea what green architecture is all about? My friend, going green is not just about saving energy resources or using solar panels on the top of your buildings. Producing a green building means much more than that- it’s about using less water (it’s such a rare commodity now); optimizing energy efficiency (we are all aware of fast depleting energy resources); conserving natural resources (it’s time we became eco-friendly); producing less waste (nobody wants our planet to become a pile of garbage) and providing healthier spaces for the occupants (wouldn’t you like to breathe fresh air indoors?)”. “It’s not about what we want to sell, it’s about what you deserve”, he said smiling as our friend understood the necessity of producing green buildings to keep our planet green.
A growing trend:
The necessity of making special efforts to minimize the energy needs of our buildings and conserving all the non-renewable resources was realized by the building community and eco-conscious people at the turn of the century. Efforts have been made since then and the results are evident. The awareness among common people has risen and more and more buildings are getting green now- not only the residential buildings but offices, factories, public buildings as well. United States Of America is leading the way while countries like India are also showing a huge interest in keeping the environment clean through their building efforts. According to an estimate, India already has about 9000 green buildings. We are ranked third in the world in LEED certification with 248 buildings already LEED certified. LEED platinum is the highest rating for green buildings but we will discuss the ratings and certifications in another post.
Green or sustainable architecture is the future of the building industry and of our planet as well. Our posts will keep educating and updating friends with a keen interest in the well-being of our planet and those who still have to catch up with the latest.
Sources:
https://www.outlookbusiness.com › news › are-green-b…
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Green_building_in_In…
https://edgebuildings.com › uploads › 2023/11
https://medium.com/@homebuilding62/green-building-a-growing-trend-for-energy-efficiency-and-eco-friendly-construction-ace805cbb256
https://www.wiprolighting.com/blog/what-is-the-need-of-green-buildings
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sandeep Singh is an architect from IIT Roorkee.
Ten years after graduating, he lost his vision to genetic Diabetes.
He reinvented his career and turned writer.
He has authored two fiction books and writes blogs on
Architecture, Outsourcing, Safety and a variety of other
subjects for different organizations. He also chairs and runs two NGOs