Green Building - Research Paper Example

? Green Building Introduction Hamilton is one of the most advanced cities in Canada hosting a population of around 700, 000 people. The city has a very high student population owing to the many learning institutions that it has. One of the most important aspects in a student’s life is accommodation. Without appropriate accommodation, the performance of the student may deteriorate due to varying factors an example being health. Most of the buildings in the city are pre-modern and thus the importance of giving or rather outlining a new design in which a building can get remodeled through. The contemporary world is faced with numerous problems one of them being pollution, it is important to go through a green design that can assist the students in having a conducive living environment while still the design maintaining environmental preservation which is effective for the community around. Client and Mentor In choosing of the means to reconstruct with regard to the client’s precision, it is important to understand the setting of the area. In the provided setting, looking out for all the environmental impacts comes in handy. The building is located in a busy location with a lot of traffic. It is thus important to understand that the cars passing by the building do not spend a lot of time at the location because the ground is rather weak. It is a requirement that the building uses rather tough tiles and the most recommended is the ceramic tiles. The client in this case is the expected occupant and since they are students, it is important to ensure that the building is not very complicated but just ideal. For an ideal contemporary building, it is important to use Ceramic. Ceramic is harder than stone and hence effective enough to use in places with clay soil and having many people around. In the making of such buildings, it is important to ensure that there is minimal use of space while still providing satisfactory area for people to use. The surrounding environment to the building should not have any building around it and should provide ample space for some form of field with grass. Grass is necessary seeing as the ground beneath is clay provides a rather smooth setting and environment for growth. Moreover, research has shown that having chemicals sprayed over the grass eventually leads to the clay soil beneath the foundation of the building stronger and can assist during the rainy season (Vasil, 2009, 77). Clearly, having ample grass space is not an aspect to conform to because it is a town setting but leaving space for it nevertheless is advisable in the setting. The mentor who is the architect in this case should ensure that they pick the right type of soil for the job. Clay soil is strong and provides a great support for the foundation and the basement. This is from the way its particles join to form one large compact Substance. This substance leaves no space for air and thus makes it even harder. However, during the dry periods, the soil gets wet and the particles, having not supported themselves alone, end up breaking into pieces. This consequently has the building developing cracks and eventually falling to the ground, which is a hazard needless to state. Below is an example of a building in the initial stages of construction just before the pouring of concrete. An inspector is a vital mentor in the analysis of the already set foundation for the building. Most precisely an engineer ought to observe the already set foundation for the determination of the stability position that the building will have. Failure to analyze this may lead to the contractors and the builders carrying on with their work with no idea whatsoever of the sensitivity of the issue (Pearon, 2011, 102). The surveyor then comes in after this stage and determines the kind of footing to put depending on the type of building that the owner requires. In this case, a green building would require a rather high footing provided the soil formation and characteristics at the area. This is also important from the fact that the footing of the building determines the outline of the building. An electrician is also important from the fact that the owners of the building have to have an alternative but not mainstream source of energy in the case of rainy periods that solar energy stored runs out. The electrician has the responsibility of laying pipes and for electronic connections such as plugs. The plumber is also involved in this as he plans and plots the source of the water and reviews the drainage system to ensure that the soil has a constant supply of water and that the main water pipes in the building do so too. Design Considerations In choosing the given design, it is important to understand that conservation of energy comes in critical. Conservation of energy is one of the most important aspects to understand when dealing with the construction of a green building basement. The basement in this situation is for the provision of energy from a more effective and reputable source. Natural lighting comes in effective for the preservation of any type of commodity that the building owners may term important. The basement should have photovoltaics that are rather an effective method to save on energy used in not only the preservation of the basement, but also the establishment of the foundation. Fuel cells to run the mortar in the creation of bricks can come from new building appliances. An environmentally friendly building is otherwise known as a green building. The goals of the building are ensuring that students have a reputable place to stay and sleep after a long day’s work at school. After this is achieved, the contractor has the responsibility of carrying out the rest of the process that will eventually determine the outcome of the entire building. The environmental fact is another important aspect to consider and the reason for this is that not all designs can work in a particular setting. Knowing that the building will be in an urban area is important in ensuring that the contractor gets all the right factors for the design and the entire job process. The area has a lot of buildings and thus the importance of ensuring that the design stands out in that it does not pollute the environment a lot. The windows and the doors to the building have to have their own original design that is different from the immediate adjacent buildings. With regard to the culture and community of the people living in that area, it is important to recognize that over time they have developed an entrepreneur attitude that has assisted them in ensuring that their lives move forward. This has led to the establishment of industries that have provided employment opportunities. With these industries, it is important to recognize that pollution has become a major factor and different activist groups have shown their resistance to this. The green building is effective and community friendly and thus people do not have to worry about pollution coming from the residents of it. Choosing of tools is a rather difficult task and the amount of attention offered ought to be high when understanding the technical properties brought into play. The priority in this case goes to reusable and recyclable materials that keep the environment in great shape and the building in a greener state (Glancey, 2009, 159). These commodities should not emit any type of exhaust gases that are otherwise harmful to the environment and could serve as a weak point for the building in its effort to remain environmentally friendly. As stated, the building is in an urban neighborhood and thus stressing the importance of uniqueness in terms of structure and energy saving. This comes in as an advantage as the owner with collaboration with the contractor can walk into various stores and chose the best products for building the building. Having the tools for this stage in place, the next step involves the setting up of concrete block walls for the basement. The building of this involves the incorporation of precast bricks that resemble large blocks rather than using the old designs. These are important for the stability of the basement provided the level at which the concrete is poured which is rather high. Despite the fact that these pro-cast bricks are energy conservative and cheap, they are rather prone to leaking and thus the importance of the poured concrete on the basement maintaining a high altitude (Sykes, 2010, 116). Program Goals and Objectives The goal of the project is ensuring that energy is saved and the environment is preserved with regard to contemporary building designs that ensure that people and other organisms remain safe and healthy for the sake of this and the later generations. Another form goal is ensuring that the students living in the building are safe from any problems that may impact their learning negatively. A function goal is ensuring that the community understands the importance of environmental conservation. Another function goal is the incorporation of the design in modern age construction technology. An economy goal of the design is ensuring that the least amount of cash is put into the design and still having quality outcome. Moreover, after achieving this, the general economy will benefit in terms of new and cheap design technology. A time goal is ensuring that the most is got out of the design in that many more buildings can get redesigned in the same manner over a short period of time. Another time goal is teaching the workers how to work effectively and fast not only with this design, but also any other construction project. Programmatic Strategies One of the most important programmatic strategies is ensuring that the owner of the building has access to all the possible designs for the achievement of a quality product according to their specifications. Another strategy is taking the design though the necessary law channels for its approval and to ensure that no problems are encountered later on. The subsequent result of this is a standard building free of legal complications due to compliance. Programming Matrix (Preliminary) The basement is the most important part of the building and should thus receive a lot of attention. It can be put to use in a variety of ways and one of these is as a garage for students that may have automobiles. There is no specific information on the type of car that the owner of the building drives and thus the importance of reviewing both the contemporary gas car and the hybrid one. For the contemporary gas car, the basement ought to have more specifications in terms of structure and walling. Photovalatics are the best means to ensure that the exhaust emanating from the car after halting does not spread to other areas of the building or the environment. Photovalatics in the basement absorbs the gas and all its constituents and then turns the gas to energy that if well wired by the technicians can go to the storage box and serve the building. As for the hybrid car, one does not have to carry out much activity with regard to refurbishing the basement. The only thing that one can do on the basement ground is ensure that there is a lot of clay and a moderate amount of sand prior to laying the foundation. This is from the fact that the hybrid car is particularly known to be light in general and consequently the amount of pressure put on the ground is technically small. As this is a building in the city, the extra amount of sand can be incorporated into laying the foundation of the rest of the building. This is resource friendly which is the main aim of the project (Daniels, 2010, 55). In the stated program, there is the incorporation of the green building method of building where the buildings are lined with electricity and water savers on the ground before building the foundation and pouring the cement. This has come in to save the government a lot in terms of power and water supply. The recycled water is used by the people to grow some vegetables and other foodstuff. The foodstuff is used by the people to save them from purchasing items in the markets while others use it to gain profit by selling it. The buildings all have unlimited power unlike before when it was rather difficult for people to have power supply in the slums. This study shows the amount of development that one can source from environmentally friendly buildings. After completion, the building will have access codes at the main gate where every person entering has to identify themselves to ensure that the tenants of the various houses are safe from intruders and thieves. It is a recommendation that not only the government, but also private investors and individual land owners take up this design trend of constructing environmentally friendly buildings. These are not only cost effective, but also assist in keeping the health of a family and the community at large safe. With increased developments of the 21st century, there is a lot of pollution and health hazards in almost all areas that people visit, it is advisable that one’s home offers a clean environment away from negative aspects. Green buildings have come to develop in the contemporary world, building them does not take a lot of effort as seen and the results are always fruitful. Through this outlined design with the procedures incorporated, Hamilton is bound to have healthy individuals generally. References Daniels, B. (2010). Cheapest Way to Build a Greenbuilding Foundation. Retrieved on 5th May 2013 from http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/undercover-operations/cheapest-way-build- greenbuilding-foundation_25075.html Taffesse, W. (2012). Low-Cost Eco-Friendly Building Material: A Case Study in Ethiopia. Retrieved on 5th May 2013 from http://www.waset.org/journals/waset/v62/v62-130.pdf Hassan, M. (2009). Kyle’s Basement Building Thread. Retrieved on 5th May 2013 from http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?129352-Kyle-s-Basement- Greenbuilding-Build-Thread Pearson, D.( 2011). The Natural Building Catalog: Everything you need to Create an Environmentally Friendly Home. New York: Simon & Schuster. Vasil, A. (2009). Ecoholic: Your guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products, and Services. New York: W.W. Norton. VanderWerf, P. A. (2007). The Concrete Building: Building Solid, Safe and Efficient with Insulating Concrete Forms. New York: Sterling. Sykes, K. (2010). Constructing a New Agenda: Architectural Theory 1993-2009. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Miller, M. R., Miller, R., & Baker, G. E. (2008). Carpentry & Construction (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Glancey, J. (2009). Architecture. London: DK. Miller, M. R., Miller, R., Leger, E., & Phelps, J. (2007). Complete Building Construction (5th ed.). Indianapolis, Ind.: Wiley. Read More