Summary Reader Response - Draft 4

CalRecycle (2023)'s Green Building Materials website, introduces the concept of sustainable buildings. With 3 billion tonnes of raw materials used in construction (CalRecycle, 2023), sustainable buildings help conserve dwindling non-renewable resources. In addition, sustainable buildings offer many benefits for residents and the environment. That's why it's so important to produce more green buildings for sustainable living. The objective of green building is to resolve the conflict between limited natural resources and numerous resource consumption requirements. The green building life cycle includes building planning, calculation, construction, operation, and maintenance (CalRecycle, 2023). At the same time, eco-friendly buildings use high-tech materials and apply the concept of sustainability to the selection and use of materials that can reduce pollution (CalRecycle, 2023). As shown on the website Weforum (2022), a twenty percent increase in green roofs and walls can meaningfully reduce air pollution. In addition, green buildings can improve occupant comfort and improve their quality of life (CalRecycle, 2023). For example, as stated in a website by Eco - Business (2018) it was mentioned that green buildings have been designed to produce conducive environments for healthy by providing more opportunities for exercise and physical activity. Challenges regarding sustainability arises due to traditional buildings emitting plenty of waste and greenhouse gases that contributes to climate change. Hence, it is imperative to promote the production of environmentally friendly buildings to resolve these sustainability issues. In my opinion, despite having untested green building materials, the production of green buildings is a solution to Earth's sustainability challenges, as they produce less waste and emit less greenhouse gas emissions which reduces the impact of climate change.  

One key advantage is that green buildings produce less waste. Green buildings have less effects on the environment than traditional buildings. Buildings with Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications produces 34% less carbon and 80 million fewer tons of landfill waste (JRM Construction Management, 2022). At the same time, managers of sustainably design structures reported using 25% less energy and 11% less water (JRM Construction Management, 2022). Building green also embraces recycling and repurposing materials, which leads to minimizing of waste. Hence, this shows how important a green building is. They impact the environment less than traditional buildings, uses less energy and produces less waste. It is believed that with greening more buildings, those buildings can reduce more waste. Additionally, LEED buildings cost 20% less to maintain than traditional buildings (JRM Construction Management, 2022). Also, in just one year, retrofitting traditional building with greener equipment lowers operation costs by almost 10 percent (JRM Construction Management, 2022). This allows us to tackle the sustainability issues on Earth. This shows how important a green building is to the environment. Not only does it produce less waste, but it is also cheaper to maintain than traditional buildings. This allows owners to tackle the sustainability issues.

Another key advantage is that high-performing green structures, especially those that are LEED certified, produces less greenhouse gas emissions. 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings (Huynh, 2021). When adding in other construction processes such as transportation, the percentage will increase. By building green, it can reduce the impact the building has on contributing to climate change.  It was mentioned that by "building to Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, buildings contributed 50% fewer greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) than conventionally constructed buildings due to water consumption, 48% fewer GHGs due to solid waste and 5% less GHGs due to transportation" (Huynh, 2021). These evidence shows that by building green buildings and adopting a sustainable approach, the buildings can produce less waste. By implementing these techniques, the carbon footprints of buildings will be greatly reduced. (Huynh, 2021). Therefore, by building green, it can reduce the impact our buildings have on contributing to climate change.  

One issue with green buildings is that they use untested materials and construction techniques. Historically, the construction industry has relied on tried-and-true building materials and techniques. (Lombard, 2009). Additionally, new items have a higher likelihood of falling short of their advertised performance levels than those traditional materials that have been tested and confirmed to work. (Lombard, 2009). For instance, building material designers are embracing the trend and overrating their materials to increase revenues because the market for green building materials is in high demand (Lombard, 2009). But in fact, these green construction materials have not yet been field-tested over time. Instead, designers must weigh the risks of these new materials against those of more trust materials first, rather than immediately selling out to the trend (Lombard, 2009). Moreover, some green building techniques, are not as sustainable as it seems. For example, vegetative roofs are riskier than conventional roofs. They are more expensive, difficult to maintain, and put greater strain on the roof. (Lombard, 2009). These disadvantages go against the concept of sustainability whereby it is supposed to be cheap, easy to maintain and does not affect the structural integrity of the building. Therefore, using untested materials and construction techniques is a drawback for green buildings.

In conclusion, these reasons proves that green buildings play a huge role in tackling Earth's sustainability issues. They produce less waste and emit less greenhouse gas. Hence with these reasonings, the production of more green buildings and the adoption of sustainable building processes, plays an important role in keeping our planet a sustainable place to live. 

Sources List

Benefits of green building. (n.d.). USGBC U.S. Green Building Council. https://www.usgbc.org/articles/benefits-green-building

Green building materials. (2023). CalRecycle. https://calrecycle.ca.gov/greenbuilding/materials/

Huynh C. (n.d.). How green buildings can help fight climate change. USGBC U.S. Green Building Council. https://www.usgbc.org/articles/how-green-buildings-can-help-fight-climate-change

Jrmcm. (2022, February 21). The benefits & advantages of building green. JRM construction. JRMCM. https://www.jrmcm.com/jrm-news/benefits-of-building-green/

Lombard D. (n.d.). The hidden risks of green buildings: Why building problems are likely. WPL Publishing - Construction Pronet. https://constructionclaims.com/Content_Free/102909part1.aspx

Rahman S. (2022, February 17). Green buildings can reduce city temperatures by up to 2°C, study shows. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/02/green-buildings-can-boost-productivity-well-being-and-health-of-workers