CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to a structure and using process that is environmentally responsible and resourceefficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This requires close cooperation of the design team, the architects, the engineers, and the client at all project stages. The Green Building practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Although new technologies are constantly being developed to complement current practices in creating greener structures, the common objective is that green buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by: Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation A similar concept is natural building, which is usually on a smaller scale and tends to focus on the use of natural materials that are available locally. Other related topics include sustainable design and green architecture. Sustainability may be defined as meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Although some green building programs don't address the issue of the retrofitting existing homes, others do. Green construction principles can easily be applied to retrofit work as well as new construction.
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A 2009 report by the U.S. General Services Administration found 12 sustainably designed buildings cost less to operate and have excellent energy performance. In addition, occupants were more satisfied with the overall building than those in typical commercial buildings.

Goals of green building

Reducing environmental impact Green building practices aim to reduce the environmental impact of buildings, so the very first rule is: the greenest building is the building that doesn't get built. New construction almost always degrades a building site, so not building is preferable to building. The second rule is: every building should be as small as possible. The third rule is: do not contribute to sprawl (the tendency for cities to spread out in a disordered fashion). No matter how much grass you put on your roof, no matter how many energy-efficient windows, etc., you use, if you

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contribute to sprawl, you've just defeated your purpose. Urban infill sites are preferable to suburban "greenfield" sites. Buildings account for a large amount of land. According to the National Resources Inventory, approximately 107 million acres (430,000 km2) of land in the United States are developed. TheInternational Energy Agency released a publication that estimated that existing buildings are responsible for more than 40% of the worlds total primary energy consumption and for 24% of global carbon dioxide emissions

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CHAPTER 2 WHY GREEN BUILDING In order to understand the thinking behind green building principles it is necessary to remember why we should be so concerned with such issues in the construction industry. Perhaps producing more energy from renewable sources and protecting wildlife and habitats is much more important? Indeed there are many who do not give green building a high priority. It is surprising how many environmental groups, for instance, appear to attach a low priority to their built environment. Groups concerned with the natural environment, wildlife, habitats and so on, sometimes inhabit or build dreadful buildings using toxic materials and high embodied energy materials. Many others see the issue purely in terms of energy efficiency or more specifically fuel efficiency and are largely unconcerned about the environmental impacts of the materials which they use to achieve reductions in gas, oil and electricity bills. Government and European research and development programmes such as Joule/Thermie, Save and Altener or the UK Clean Technology programme seem largely designed to encourage high technology development, leading to new and more products and systems which will expand industry and create new markets. When the four main principles set out above are taken into account, it becomes clear that the building materials industry, the transport of materials and products, their construction on site and then the pollution and energy wastage coming from buildings collectively has a surprisingly wider impact on the environment than most other human activities. The Vales have suggested that 66% of total UK energy consumption is accounted for by buildings and building construction and
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services.10 Thus the importance of buildings and the construction industry has to be seen as one of the most, if not the most important user of energy and resources in advanced society. Major savings will not be achieved only by putting more insulation in homes or using low energy light bulbs, a much more fundamental review of all building materials production and construction methods, transportation etc. is required. Thus if we are concerned about ozone depletion, wastage of limited natural resources, such as oil, gas and minerals, the loss of forested areas, toxic chemical manufacture and emissions, destruction of natural habitats and so on, tackling the built environment is going to go a long way to addressing these issues.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) A life cycle assessment (LCA) can help avoid a narrow outlook on environmental, social and economic concernsby assessing a full range of impacts associated with all cradle-to-grave stages of a process: from extraction of raw materials through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling. Impacts taken into account include (among others) embodied energy, global warming potential, resource use, air pollution, water pollution, and waste. In terms of green building, the last few years have seen a shift away from a prescriptive approach, which assumes that certain prescribed practices are better for the environment, toward the scientific evaluation of actual performance through LCA.

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Although LCA is widely recognized as the best way to evaluate the environmental impacts of buildings (ISO 14040 provides a recognized LCA methodology), it is not yet a consistent requirement of green building rating systems and codes, despite the fact that embodied energy and other life cycle impacts are critical to the design of environmentally responsible buildings. In North America, LCA is rewarded to some extent in the Green Globes rating system, and is part of the new American National Standard based on Green Globes, ANSI/GBI 01-2010: Green Building Protocol for Commercial Buildings. LCA is also included as a pilot credit in the LEED system, though a decision has not been made as to whether it will be incorporated fully into the next major revision. The state of California also included LCA as a voluntary measure in its 2010 draft Green Building Standards Code.

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CHAPTER 3 EFFICIENCY OF GREEN BUILDING Siting and structure design efficiency The foundation of any construction project is rooted in the concept and design stages. The concept stage, in fact, is one of the major steps in a project life cycle, as it has the largest impact on cost and performance In designing environmentally optimal buildings, the objective is to minimize the total environmental impact associated with all life-cycle stages of the building project. However, building as a process is not as streamlined as an industrial process, and varies from one building to the other, never repeating itself identically. In addition, buildings are much more complex products, composed of a multitude of materials and components each constituting various design variables to be decided at the design stage. A variation of every design variable may affect the environment during all the building's relevant life-cycle stages Energy efficiency

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An eco-house at Findhorn Ecovillage with a turf roof and solar panels Green buildings often include measures to reduce energy consumption both the embodied energy required to extract, process, transport and install building materials and operating energy to provide services such as heating and power for equipment. As high-performance buildings use less operating energy, embodied energy has assumed much greater importance and may make up as much as 30% of the overall life cycle energy consumption. Studies such as the U.S. LCI Database Project show buildings built primarily with wood will have a lower embodied energy than those built primarily with brick, concrete or steel. To reduce operating energy use, designers use details that reduce air leakage through the building envelope (the barrier between conditioned and unconditioned space). They also specify high-performance windows and extra insulation in walls, ceilings, and floors. Another strategy, passive solar building design, is often implemented in low-energy homes. Designers orient windows and walls and place awnings, porches, and trees to shade windows and roofs during the summer while maximizing solar gain in the winter. In addition, effective window placement (daylighting) can provide more natural light and lessen the need for electric lighting during the day. Solar water heating further reduces energy costs. Onsite generation of renewable energy through solar power, wind power, hydro power, or biomass can significantly reduce the environmental impact of the building. Power generation is generally the most expensive feature to add to a building.

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Water efficiency Reducing water consumption and protecting water quality are key objectives in sustainable building. One critical issue of water consumption is that in many areas, the demands on the supplying aquifer exceed its ability to replenish itself. To the maximum extent feasible, facilities should increase their dependence on water that is collected, used, purified, and reused on-site. The protection and conservation of water throughout the life of a building may be accomplished by designing for dual plumbing that recycles water in toilet flushing. Waste-water may be minimized by utilizing water conserving fixtures such as ultra-low flush toilets and low-flow shower heads. Bidets help eliminate the use of toilet paper, reducing sewer traffic and increasing possibilities of re-using water on-site. Point of use water treatment and heating improves both water quality and energy efficiency while reducing the amount of water in circulation. The use of non-sewage andgreywater for on-site use such as site-irrigation will minimize demands on the local aquifer

Materials efficiency Building materials typically considered to be 'green' include lumber from forests that have been certified to a third-party forest standard, rapidly renewable plant materials like bamboo and straw,dimension stone, recycled stone, recycled metal (see: copper sustainability and recyclability), and other products that are non-toxic, reusable, renewable, and/or recyclable (e.g., Trass, Linoleum, sheep wool, panels made from paper flakes, compressed earth block, adobe, baked earth, rammed earth, clay, vermiculite, flax linen, sisal, seagrass, cork, expanded clay grains, coconut, wood fibre plates, calcium sand stone, concrete (high and ultra
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high performance, roman self-healing concrete), etc.) The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) also suggests using recycled industrial goods, such as coal combustion products, foundry sand, and demolition debris in construction projects Building materials should be extracted and manufactured locally to the building site to minimize the energy embedded in their transportation. Where possible, building elements should be manufactured off-site and delivered to site, to maximise benefits of off-site manufacture including minimising waste, maximising recycling (because manufacture is in one location), high quality elements, better OHS management, less noise and dust. Energy efficient building materials and appliances are promoted in the United States through energy rebate programs, which are increasingly communicated to consumers through energy rebate database services such as GreenOhm.

Indoor environmental quality enhancement The Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) category in LEED standards, one of the five environmental categories, was created to provide comfort, well-being, and productivity of occupants. The LEED IEQ category addresses design and construction guidelines especially: indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal quality, and lighting quality. Indoor Air Quality seeks to reduce volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, and other air impurities such as microbial contaminants. Buildings rely on a properly designed ventilation system (passively/naturally or mechanically powered) to provide adequate ventilation of cleaner air from outdoors or recirculated, filtered air as well as isolated operations (kitchens, dry cleaners, etc.) from other occupancies. During the design and construction process choosing construction
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materials and interior finish products with zero or low VOC emissions will improve IAQ. Most building materials and cleaning/maintenance products emit gases, some of them toxic, such as many VOCs including formaldehyde. These gases can have a detrimental impact on occupants' health, comfort, and productivity. Avoiding these products will increase a building's IEQ. LEED, HQ and Green Star contain specifications on use of low-emitting interior. Draft LEED 2012 is about to expand the scope of the involved products. BREEAM limits formaldehyde emissions, no other VOCs. Also important to indoor air quality is the control of moisture accumulation (dampness) leading to mold growth and the presence of bacteria and viruses as well as dust mites and other organisms and microbiological concerns. Water intrusion through a building's envelope or water condensing on cold surfaces on the building's interior can enhance and sustain microbial growth. A well-insulated and tightly sealed envelope will reduce moisture problems but adequate ventilation is also necessary to eliminate moisture from sources indoors including human metabolic processes, cooking, bathing, cleaning, and other activities. Personal temperature and airflow control over the HVAC system coupled with a properly designed building envelope will also aid in increasing a building's thermal quality. Creating a high performance luminous environment through the careful integration of daylight and electrical light sources will improve on the lighting quality and energy performance of a structure. Solid wood products, particularly flooring, are often specified in environments where occupants are known to have allergies to dust or other particulates. Wood itself is considered to be hypo-allergenic and its smooth surfaces prevent the buildup of particles common in soft finishes like carpet. The Asthma and Allergy
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Foundation of American recommends hardwood, vinyl, linoleum tile or slate flooring instead of carpet. The use of wood products can also improve air quality by absorbing or releasing moisture in the air to moderate humidity. Interactions among all the indoor components and the occupants together form the processes that determine the indoor air quality.

Operations and maintenance optimization No matter how sustainable a building may have been in its design and construction, it can only remain so if it is operated responsibly and maintained properly. Ensuring operations and maintenance(O&M) personnel are part of the project's planning and development process will help retain the green criteria designed at the onset of the project. Every aspect of green building is integrated
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into the O&M phase of a building's life. The addition of new green technologies also falls on the O&M staff. Although the goal of waste reduction may be applied during the design, construction and demolition phases of a building's life-cycle, it is in the O&M phase that green practices such as recycling and air quality enhancement take place.

Waste reduction Green architecture also seeks to reduce waste of energy, water and materials used during construction. For example, in California nearly 60% of the state's waste comes from commercial buildings During the construction phase, one goal should be to reduce the amount of material going to landfills. Well-designed buildings also help reduce the amount of waste generated by the occupants as well, by providing on-site solutions such as compost bins to reduce matter going to landfills. To reduce the amount of wood that goes to landfill, Neutral Alliance (a coalition of government, NGOs and the forest industry) created the website

dontwastewood.com. The site includes a variety of resources for regulators, municipalities, developers, contractors, owner/operators and

individuals/homeowners looking for information on wood recycling.

When buildings reach the end of their useful life, they are typically demolished and hauled to landfills. Deconstruction is a method of harvesting what is commonly considered "waste" and reclaiming it into useful building material. Extending the

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useful life of a structure also reduces waste building materials such as wood that are light and easy to work with make renovations easier. To reduce the impact on wells or water treatment plants, several options exist. "Greywater", wastewater from sources such as dishwashing or washing machines, can be used for subsurface irrigation, or if treated, for non-potable purposes, e.g., to flush toilets and wash cars. Rainwater collectors are used for similar purposes. Centralized wastewater treatment systems can be costly and use a lot of energy. An alternative to this process is converting waste and wastewater into fertilizer, which avoids these costs and shows other benefits. By collecting human waste at the source and running it to a semi-centralized biogas plant with other biological waste, liquid fertilizer can be produced. This concept was demonstrated by a settlement in Lubeck Germany in the late 1990s. Practices like these provide soil with organic nutrients and create carbon sinks that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, offsetting greenhouse gas emission. Producing artificial fertilizer is also more costly in energy than this process.

Cost and payoff The most criticized issue about constructing environmentally friendly buildings is the price. Photo-voltaics, new appliances, and modern technologies tend to cost more money. Most green buildings cost a premium of <2%, but yield 10 times as much over the entire life of the building. The stigma is between the knowledge of up-front costvs. life-cycle cost. The savings in money come from more efficient use of utilities which result in decreased energy bills. It is projected that different sectors could save $130 Billion on energy bills. Also, higher worker or student productivity can be factored into savings and cost deductions.
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Regulation and operation As a result of the increased interest in green building concepts and practices, a number of organizations have developed standards, codes and rating systems that let government regulators, building professionals and consumers embrace green building with confidence. In some cases, codes are written so local governments can adopt them as bylaws to reduce the local environmental impact of buildings. Green building rating systems such as BREEAM (United Kingdom), LEED (United States and Canada), DGNB (Germany) and CASBEE (Japan) help consumers determine a structures level of environmental performance. They award credits for optional building features that support green design in categories such as location and maintenance of building site, conservation of water, energy, and building materials, and occupant comfort and health. The number of credits generally determines the level of achievement. Green building codes and standards, such as the International Code Councils draft International Green Construction Code, are sets of rules created by standards development organizations that establish minimum requirements for elements of green building such as materials or heating and cooling.

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Water Conservation Features- Recycle, Reuse & Recharge Water management in Green Buildings/Factories is critical. Green

Buildings/Factories ensure that they have uninterrupted access to fresh / clean water for drinking and grey water for Bathrooms and facility management. While great attention to detail is given to ensure that the waste water generated is treated, reused and disposed-off judiciously. The waste water, if any, is used in the buildings vicinity for purposes of greening the areas inside and outside. Care is taken to ensure low dependence on the ground-water table and/or any other municipal source of water.

Natural Light is used extensively for lighting majority of the building/factory during daylight hours. During non-daylight-hours lighting is provided by lowconsumption eco friendly lighting by LED lights, CFL bulbs, Solar generated power-backed lighting. The Mantra reduce, recycle and reuse is importantly addressed in Green Buildings for three basic requirements Air, Water and Fire (energy source) For Air the mantra is defined as enabling Green Buildings/factories to have uninterrupted access to fresh / clean air inside the building while generating clean
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air in its vicinity (while being constructed or later when the building is being used by its occupants) The idea is simply to innovatively use design, technology, construction practices and when occupied, sustainable practices to ensure fresh / clean air inside and outside the building. Similarly for Water the mantra in Green Buildings/Factories is to have uninterrupted access to fresh / clean water inside the building while generating lowest possible levels of waste water. The waste water, if any, be used in the buildings vicinity for purposes of greening the areas inside and outside. Again, the idea is to innovatively use design, technology, construction practices and when occupied, sustainable practices to ensure fresh / clean water inside and outside the building/factory. To lower dependence on the ground-water table and/or any other municipal source of water. Energy ratings for all machines industrial, commercial and personal use have become virtually mandatory in every country. Though most countries / continents have their own ratings system but all translate into one slogan reduce, recycle and reuse

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CHAPTER 4 THE GREEN CONCEPT The concept of sustainable development can be traced to the energy (especially fossil oil) crisis and the environment pollution concern in the 1970s.The green building movement in the U.S. originated from the need and desire for more energy efficient and environmentally friendly construction practices. There are a number of motives for building green, including environmental, economic, and social benefits. However, modern sustainability initiatives call for an integrated and synergistic design to both new construction and in the retrofitting of existing structures. Also known as sustainable design, this approach integrates the building life-cycle with each green practice employed with a design-purpose to create a synergy among the practices used. Green building brings together a vast array of practices, techniques, and skills to reduce and ultimately eliminate the impacts of buildings on the environment and human health. It often emphasizes taking advantage of renewable resources, e.g., using sunlight through passive solar, active solar, and photovoltaic techniques and using plants and trees through green roofs, rain gardens, and reduction of rainwater run-off. Many other techniques are used, such as using wood as a building material, or using packed gravel or permeable concrete instead of conventional concrete or asphalt to enhance replenishment of ground water. While the practices, or technologies, employed in green building are constantly evolving and may differ from region to region, fundamental principles persist from which the method is derived: Siting and Structure Design Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Materials Efficiency, Indoor Environmental Quality Enhancement, Operations and Maintenance Optimization, and Waste and Toxics
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Reduction. The essence of green building is an optimization of one or more of these principles. Also, with the proper synergistic design, individual green building technologies may work together to produce a greater cumulative effect. On the aesthetic side of green architecture or sustainable design is the philosophy of designing a building that is in harmony with the natural features and resources surrounding the site. There are several key steps in designing sustainable buildings: specify 'green' building materials from local sources, reduce loads, optimize systems, and generate on-site renewable energy. With rising energy costs, tightening budgets, increasing populations and diminishing resources, it is becoming increasingly important that business and individuals conserve or go green Green or sustainable- building practices help to create healthier and more resource efficient models of: Construction Renovation Operation Maintenance Demolition Green symbolizes environment friendly practices in all facets of human endeavor

WHAT IS A GREEN BUILDING? A green building depletes the natural resources to the minimum during its construction and operation. Main aim is to
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 minimize the demand on non renewable resources maximize the utilization efficiency of these resources, when in use maximize the reuse, recycle and utilization of renewable resources. Optimizes the use of on-site resources sinks by bio-climatic architectural practices. Uses efficient equipments to meet its lighting, air condition and other needs Use efficient waste and water management practices Provides comfortable and hygienic indoor working conditions. In sum, the following aspects of building design are looked into an integrated way in a green building: o Site planning o Building envelope design o Building system design (HVAC, heating , ventilation and air conditioning, lighting, electrical and water heating) o Integration of renewable energy resources to generate energy on site. o Water and waste management o Selection of ecologically sustainable materials(with high recycled content, rapidly renewable resources with low emission potential, etc.) o Indoor environmental quality WHY MAKE A GREEN BUILDING? All over the world we are finally beginning to recognize the threat that building construction is posing to the civilization. Buildings have major environmental impacts over their life cycle. There are various problems arising in the present scenario:

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PROBLEM 1- BUILDINGS CONSUME:

40% of all energy 71% of all electricity 50% of all gas demand 12% of all fresh water 88% of all potable water 40% of all wood, steel and other raw materials 1 acre gets developed every 12 seconds!!!

PROBLEM 2- BUILDING POLLUTE: 1. Building contribute 40-50% of green house gas (GHG) emissions 2. Building creates 65% of all solid waste, 90-95% of construction and demolition waste could be recycled
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Figure A pie chart showing the percentage of construction waste obtained from various activities. Indoor pollution often 2-100 times worse than outdoors

PROBLEM 3- IMPACT OF ASIA ON GLOBAL WARMING In next 25 to 30 years 1. Energy consumption of developing Asian countries will more than double 2. CO2 emissions will increase more than three fold 3. Electricity generation in asian countries is expected to make the greatest contribution to CO2 emmisions

SOLUTION IS A GREEN SUSTAINABLE BUILDING Energy efficiency is the most effective way to address climate change

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 Energy efficiency is the cheapest source of additional energy supply and the most cost effective way to reduce GHG An efficient sustainable building will : - reduce energy usage and life cycle cost - create a better environment for occupants - reduce use of water and consumption of natural resources ECONOMIC BENEFITS Green buildings are costlier REALITY: Considerable research and analysis has been carried out with regards to the cost impacts of a green building. The cost could be slightly higher than conventional building. But then, this need to be seen in a different paradigm. The question is how do we compare the cost? There needs to be a baseline cost for all comparisons to be alike. The incremental cost is always relative and depends on the extent of eco-friendly features already considered during design. The incremental cost would appear small if the baseline design is already at a certain level of good eco-design; It would appear huge if the base design has not considered green principals. The second and rather critical paradigm is to look at the incremental cost in relation to the life cycle cost. This kind of an approach could be revealing. Who knows, a building would last for a 50 years or 60 years or 100 years! Over its life cycle, the operating cost would work out to 80-85 % while the incremental cost which is one-time cost is only about 8-10%

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GREEN BUILDING MOVEMENT IN INDIA

India is witnessing tremendous growth in infrastructure and construction development. The construction industry in India is one of the largest economic activities and is growing at an average rate of 9.5% as compared to the global average of 5%. As the sector is growing rapidly, preserving the environment poses lot of challenge and at the same time presents opportunities. The construction sector therefore needs to play its role and contribute towards environmental responsibility.

GREEN CONCEPT IN INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING The green movement is gaining momentum rapidly. But, is the rate enough? And the answer is of course NO. It certainly needs more and more peoples involvement to get visible and desired result. One cant blame anyone for noninvolvement if they arent aware of green concept. Certainly, they need to know it to get involved. The key is awareness. To increase the awareness what would be a better place than an educational institution. Here thousands of students come every year. They stay, they learn, they
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grow here. Its the place to share new ideas and concepts. So if they get to see a live example of green initiative, they wont only know, but will be able to judge and see the benefits. They too may start thinking green and finding out new and better green ways. And then thousands of students go out every year to different places of their work field. They of course take their ideas with them and influence the people at their work place, which in turn further increasing the awareness.

RATING SYSTEMS FOR GREEN BUILDINGS The United States Green Business Council (UGBC) has developed The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, which is the internationally accepted benchmark for design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives Building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings performance. LEED promotes a whole building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in 5 key areas of human and environmental health 1. Sustainable site development 2. Water savings 3. Energy Efficiency 4. Material selection 5. Indoor Environmental Quality

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LIMITATIONS OF GREEN BUILDING Another danger of eco-labelling and similar systems is that of green consumerism where some people decide to adopt a green life style which remains only superficial in its impact. Architects might similarly decide to adopt a green style of design without any fundamental concern for the underlying principles. Others may believe that by designing green buildings that this is, in itself, sufficient to solve the worlds environmental problems.

Peter Dickens tells us of the danger of suggesting that green design can save the world, warning of a fetish of so-called environmentally friendly commodities which are simply new forms of consumer product. He argues for the need to change the relationships and processes which are causing the problem in the first place, to suggest that buildings and designs are themselves capable of creating sustainable societies could be, to say the least, seriously misleading.17

Thus simply having a green image is dangerous without any understanding of where materials and products come from, how they are manufactured and the impact that this has on society. It is how materials and products are produced and then used, rather than simply being labelled green that makes the difference in green building practice.

Photo-voltaic cells, for instance can generate electricity using the power of the sun and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, but they are currently very expensive
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to produce and can hugely increase the embodied energy costs of a building. Such costs are likely to reduce dramatically over the next few years, but at present other solutions may be a lot less hi-tech and flashy, but just as effective in reducing heating and electricity costs.18 Importing green products from around the world can also be hard to justify, unless such a practice is making a sustainable contribution to a particular economy and can be justified in global terms.

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CHAPTER 5 PRODUCT ANALYSIS & MATERIALS Specification Life Cycle Analysis The Green Building Handbooks Product Tables present a summary of the environmental impact of each product covered in an easy-to-read format. A circle in a column will indicate that we have discovered published comment on a particular aspect of a productsimpact. The larger the circle the worse an environmental impact is thought to be (in the opinion of the author). Marks on each Table will only indicate poor records relative to other products on the same Table. Every mark on the product Table has a corresponding entry in the Product Analysis section, which explain why each mark was made against each particular product, Life Cycle or cradle-to-grave analysis of a products environmental impact is a relatively new, and still contentious field. It is accepted that it should involve all parts of a products life; extraction, production, distribution, use and disposal. The Green Building Handbooks Product Tables amalgamate these for ease of presentation, so that issues involving the first three, extraction, production and distribution are presented in the nine columns grouped under the heading Production; the last two, use and disposal, are presented together under the heading Use. Less well accepted are the more detailed headings under which life cycle analysis is performed. Those we have used are based on those used by other LCA professionals, but developed specifically for this particular usepresenting information about building products in a simple table format.
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The most fundamental problem with LCA is in trying to come up with a single aggregate score for each product. This would entail trying to judge the relative importance of, for example, 50g emission ozone depleting CFC with a hardtoquantify destruction of wildlife habitat. in the end the balancing of these different factors is a political rather than scientfic matter.

Production This group heading covers the extraction, processing, production and distribution of a product. Energy Use More than 5% of the UKs total energy expenditure goes on the production and distribution of building materials. This energy is almost always in the form of nonrenewable fossil fuels. In the absence of information on other aspects of a products environmental impact, energy use is often taken to be an indicator of the total environmental impact.

Resource Depletion (biological) Biological resources, whether of timber in tropical forests or of productive land at home, can all be destroyed by industrial activity. These can only be counted as renewable resources if they are actually being renewed at the same rate as their depletion.

Resource Depletion (non-biological) Non-biological resources are necessarily non-renewable, and so are in limited supply for future generations, if not already. These include all minerals dug from the ground or the sea bed.
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Global Warming Global warming by the greenhouse effect is caused chiefly by the emission of carbon dioxide, CFCs, nitrous oxides and methane.

Ozone Depletion The use of CFCs and other ozone-depleting gases in industrial processes still continues despite many practicable alternatives.

Toxics Toxic emissions, to land, water or air, can have serious environmental effects, none of which can ever be completely traced or understood. Acid Rain A serious environmental problem, causing damage to ecosystems and to the built environment. Caused mainly by emissions of the oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. Photochemical Oxidants The cause of modern-day smog, and low-level ozone, causing damage to vegetation, material and human health. Hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions are chiefly responsible.

Other No check-list can ever cover all aspects of environmental impact. See the specific Product Analysis section for an explanation of each case under this heading. Use This group heading covers the application at the site, the subsequent in-situ life and the final disposal of a product.
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Energy Use Nearly 50% of the UKs total energy consumption is in heating, lighting and otherwise serving building. The potential impact, and therefore potential savings, are enormous.

Durability/Maintenance A product that is short lived or needs frequent maintenance causes more impact bthan one built to last.

Recycling/Reuse/Disposal When a building finally has to be altered or demolished the overall environmental impact of a product is significantly affected by whether or not it can and will be reused, repaired or recycled, or if it will bio-degrade.

Health Hazards Certain products cause concerns about their health effects either during building, in use or after. Other Again no list like this can ever be complete. See the specific Product Analysis section for an explanation of each case. Alert Anything that we feel deserves special emphasis, or that we have come across in the literature that is not dealt with elsewhere, is listed here on the Table.

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CHAPTER 6 ADVANTAGES &DISADVANTAGES OF GREEN BUILDING Advantages To preserve natural resources and reduce environmental wastes, many builders and design professionals utilize green building methods. Green building focuses on the efficiency of resources including energy, water, and building materials, while taking into consideration the building impacts on human health and the environment. Various programs throughout the U.S. encourage professionals within the construction industry to utilize green building methods. The most prominent program is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), an initiative developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED is a nationally accepted benchmark for producing high-performance green buildings. The initiative takes into account a five-step approach to building, including: sustainable site development, energy efficiency, water savings, material selection, and indoor environment quality.

Although many benefits are involved with green building, there are also disadvantages to consider. Construction employers and design professionals should take the following items into consideration: Efficient technologies: Green buildings incorporate energy and water efficient technologies that are not as readily available in traditional buildings. These technologies create a healthier and

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more comfortable environment as they utilize renewable energy, reduce waste, and decrease heating and cooling expenses.

Easier maintenance: Green buildings typically involve less maintenance. For example, green buildings generally do not require exterior painting every three to five years: this simple method helps saves the environment, as well as a consumer time and money.

Improved indoor air quality: With green buildings, the indoor air quality is improved via natural and healthy materials: green buildings utilize clean energy sources such as solar and wind power, rather than burning coal.

Return on investment: Considering the average lifecycle of a building (50-100 years), certain green building measures, such as installing solar panels or doubling the amount of installation, can yield a strong return on investment and lead to higher resale values.

Energy efficiency: Green building methods make the most out of energy, resources, and materials. As enforced by The Department of Energy (DOE), builders and design professionals
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must adhere to energy code requirements. For more information, visitBuilding to Energy Code.

Tax incentives: Incentives exist on a local, state, and federal level to support building green initiatives.

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Disadvantages Cost: Many believe the costs associated with green building make the building methods cost-prohibitive.

Air Cooling Features: When utilizing green building cooling components, such as natural ventilation, consumers do not have a precise mechanism to increase or decrease exact temperatures: This is a difficult hurdle for many green building occupants to overcome.

Structural Orientation: In order to best optimize sun exposure, green building may demand structural positioning opposite of other neighborhood homes, causing friction among neighbors. In addition, differences in structural orientation will affect how natural daylight enters the building structure: with this in mind there may be a need to install more overhangs, blinds, or shades.

Green roofs: In general, green roofs are comprised of multiple layers including a vegetation layer, growing medium, drainage or water storage, insulation, a waterproofing membrane, and roof support. Since they are usually heavier than a traditional roof, builders need to improve upon the existing roofs strength in order to install a green roof.
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Labor Laws: Labor law compliance requirements, in regards to green building, have not fully solidified. For this reason, it is advisable to seek experienced legal counsel in order to avoid costly liabilities.

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CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS Green Building Certifications present a moving target Critical to work with clients early and continuously to determine goals and objectives Focus on objective performance measures and clear allocation of risks and responsibilities Green building issues are presented in nearly every phase of development look for opportunities to improve old practices and boiler plate Dont get bogged down, but dont be afraid to innovate

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BIBLIOGRAPHY i. Behsh, Basam, 2001, Building form as an option for enhancing the indoor thermal conditions, (Building physics, 6th Nordic symposium, Sweden), [Internet, WWW], ADDRESS: http://newlearn.info/learn/packages/clear/thermal/buildings/configuration/images/form thermalperformance.pdf, [Accessed: 20 February 2011] Brown, G. Z., Dekay, M., 2001, Sun, wind and light: architectural design strategies, (Canada, John Wiley & sons, Inc.). Givoni, Baruch, 1994. Passive and low energy cooling of buildings (U.S.A., John Wiley & sons, Inc.) Lobo, Caroline. 1995. Thermal Behavior of Buildings in Warm and Humid Climatic Conditions. Masters thesis, Indian Institute of Technology F. Smith, P.(2007) Sustainability at cutting edge Emerging technology for low energy building, Burlington, Architectural press. TERI & TVPL, (2008) Environmental Building Guidelines for Greater Hyderabad Ver.1.1 Mahesh Kumar L, Ravichandran S and Karunakaran K, Ground water response to artificial recharge of rainwater, Indian Journal of Science And Technology, Vol 3.

ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii.

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