The most famous building of U of O - Essay Example

It also functions unconventionally through use of smart plugs, efficient electric lighting and controls, advanced monitoring systems and green roofs. Lillis Business Complex’s orientation enables it achieve maximum energy efficiency hence reducing emissions. The east-west orientation ensure that there is adequate natural light in the classrooms during the day therefore no artificial lighting, which emits heat and raises energy costs, is required. The building also runs on solar energy, a renewable source of energy, which is generated from a 44 kW of (PV) cells.

These cells are incorporated into the atrium’s south-facing curtain wall finishing, windowpanes on the penthouse roof, and flat roof sheets and are fed into the university’s power grid for use by other amenities.1 This in turn ensures that there are no emissions from generators and it greatly reduces the energy cost in the university. Environmentalist are advocating for recycling and reuse of materials as a way of coming up with sustainable buildings and environments. Lillis Business Complex is made of recycled materials hence extending the life and usefulness of old materials that have fulfilled their purpose, thus making them useable.

The construction waste from the previous building was sorted and valuable materials like steel and cardboards were reused in the building of the green complex.90% of the beautiful complex is made up of structural steel and concrete which contain recycled matter. The floor is made of Marmoleum, which is a biodegradable product of linseed oil and wood wastes from industries, a big part of the buildings carpet tile is from recycled carpeting, which has a prolonged life span compared to other forms of carpeting, and all this resulted in cost saving of the building materials.

If not well designed for, a building may end up using more or less water than anticipated hence water conservation is a key element when coming up with green buildings. This may lead to increased water bill costs or under utilization of the building due to lack of or inadequate water supply. Sustainable landscape techniques have been put in place for water conservation purposes. Adaptive plants have been used to minimize water and pesticide use, which lead to pollution, Low flow appliances have also been put in place with the aim of conserving water by controlling the amount of water that runs from these appliances.

Green roofs act as normal strainers by keeping water in plants, growing media and later vaporizing it into the air, during summer, they retain 70-80% of rainfall and 20-30% in winter and decrease and deferment run off throughout hefty and extended precipitation. By incorporating green roof in Lillis Business Complex, the institution reduced the impact of run off on the storm water drainage system and reduced the chances of local flooding. During summer, photosynthesis and evapotranspiration reduce the amount of solar energy absorbed by the roof membrane, creating cooler temperatures in the interior while during winter, root activity of the plants produce heat thus keeping the interior warm, therefore making them good insulators.

The green roofs also provide the students’ with an area where they can socialize as well as meet their green space needs, fresh air transmission in a building not only increases the tenants’ self-esteem, but also develops their health and luxury. The quality of indoor environment in Lillis Business