The modern world is starting to notice the viability of green building
architecture. Many countries have modified their construction and design methods to their local climate in new innovative ways.

Green building architecture refers to the development of a building that seeks to use processes that have a low impact on the environment while at the same time being efficient with the resources used for construction. This includes all aspects of the building, beginning with design and continuing throughout the stages of construction, maintenance, renovation, and finally demolition. What green building design seeks to do is to give homeowners a chance to strike a balance between development and environmental preservation. It is an interesting fact that green building practices vary drastically between one country and another around the world.

Exploring the History of Green Building Architecture in America

The modern green building architecture movement came in the 1970's. During this period, the US was facing a very difficult time since the rising prices of fossil fuels made continued development a difficult prospect. Forward-thinking architects were inspired by the growing popular movement towards environmental responsibility and came up with the concept of green building. The pressure of the OPEC embargo in 1973, together with the first celebration of Earth Day in 1970, gave them a lot more encouragement to pursue their ideas. Throughout the next four decades, research into methods of increasing the efficiency of certain building processes, coupled with the search for new alternative energy sources and how to exploit them, led to the development of the technology that make green building an exciting prospect today.

Green Building in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East

In Europe, the green building phenomenon has adapted to use a lot of the alternative energy systems that the EU has been pioneering for decades. These have been developed specifically for their geographical regions and are unlikely to be useful in other neighboring areas without adaptations to cater for differing climates.

In Asia, the green building initiatives tend to focus more on balancing their increasing urbanization with the currently existing environment. The Asian regions tend to have the largest population growth in the world, and green architecture is important tensuring their continued
success.

The Middle East has historically made its money from oil, but are now embracing green technologies that can help to mitigate the rising costs of construction that are now a major concern in these countries. These green initiatives can also help to ease the pressure for the demand for clean drinking water in areas where this is a concern. Using ideas like solar power to aid in energy consumption in areas with high insolation further serves to make buildings greener in the long run.

Leaders in Green Building Initiatives

The European Union has among its members some of the highest ranked countries in terms of their building sustainability. This includes the countries of Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the UK. This is because many European countries adopted and embraced the ideals of green building early, marrying them to existing initiatives in energy conservation and even writing many of these practices into law to ensure that buildings would conform to this particular standard.

In the Asian sphere of influence, Singapore is the industry leader, with other countries following close behind. It’s not surprising to see Asian countries embracing green building, since in the majority of those countries, the aim is to reduce the amount of pollution that is currently hanging over their major cities.

Countries that profited from the presence and availability of oil on their lands in the Middle East are now realizing the turning of the tides and are pursuing more green building initiatives. Qatar, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates have now made green building a priority in their
developmental strategies. Compared to the rest of the world, however, the Middle Eastern countries are lagging behind but they are working to make up the difference, planning for almost a third of their future development to be done using green building principles.

Using an Architect for Long Term Building Sustainability

Green building is a growing discipline of the modern architect. For a building to become sustainable over time, it needs to be constructed according to exact standards and utilize the latest technology to make itself a useful addition. Green building seeks to create an
environmentally conscious structure that can last for quite a long time with a minimal impact on its surroundings.

If you're interested in finding out more about green building initiatives or how green architecture can be incorporated into your project, contact Bill Whittaker, Registered Architect!