Green House Building – How To Survive Without Oil

Our Planet is facing dramatic changes owing to the accelerated rate of human development and indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources. Global warming is just one such warning sign that the delicate global ecosystem is very near the ‘tipping’ scale. Therefore, it devolves upon the human race to find solutions so that man and nature can harmonize their needs to ensure a sustainable future. Building ‘Green’ Houses is one such important initiative.

What does a ‘Green’ house building entail? It encompasses cost effective and eco-friendly use of resources to build houses, institutions, markets, malls, and other similar structures.

There are various methods used for building ‘Green’ houses. Use of architectural designs, which maximize the availability of natural sunlight and wind, help reduce consumption of electricity and polluting air conditioners. It also includes use of energy saving devices such as solar heaters and photovoltaic panels. Conservation, an important facet of ‘green’ design is helped by using locally available natural materials. Other methods include building houses only as spacious as is really required. Installation of smaller cisterns for flushing toilets, recycled water for gardening and rain water harvesting are important principles in building ‘green’ houses.

Building ‘green’ houses have many rewards attached. In the opinion of some experts, well-planned ‘green’ houses consume upto 30% less energy than those that are not built with this idea in mind. Greater use of natural air and sunlight make ‘green’ building healthier, increasing human efficiency and yes, mean lesser visits to the doctor!

There is a general misconception that ‘green’ house building is significantly costlier than building normal houses. That is just not true. Studies have shown that a well conceived ‘green’ house project might cost in the range of 0.5 % to 6.5 % over a normal building in the initial costing. However, over the long term, those costs get recovered.

A sustainable ‘green’ house model involves incorporation of ‘green’ features in the design stage leading to reduction of costs. Sustainability of a ‘green’ concept is also increased by establishing a common area for selected facilities or sharing of resources including a common swimming pool or a rain water conservation unit in the neighborhood.

The concept of a ‘green’ house building is not likely to be a passing fad. In fact more and more people will be opting to live in ‘green’ buildings in the future. Giving encouragement to this initiative will be our contribution towards securing a sustainable future for mankind and our planet.

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