According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, residential buildings accounts for 21% of energy consumption in America, while the construction and operation of buildings accounts for 50% of greenhouse gas emissions generated by the country. And according to Edward Mazria, an architect from Santa Fe, New Mexico, the architects have a lot to answer for.
Mazria gave up a lucrative career in architecture to establish Architecture 2030, an organization non-profit that seeks to challenge the construction industry to halve carbon emissions by 2010 and to be carbon neutral by 2030. It also makes the United States in an effort to increase awareness and responsibility to liability the construction sector in the current environmental crisis. To this end, he wrote a revealing and informative white paper entitled "It's the Architecture Stupid ".
Mazria is not alone in his crusade green housing. Matthew Berman and Andrew Kotchen, partners in an architecture firm, is consider guerrillas fighting for a global cause, namely reducing the negative impact that housing has on the environment. In 2006 they won a competition to design a zero energy affordable housing development in hurricane ravaged New Orleans. The project is currently under construction and consists of two rooms and apartments that will be powered by solar panels and feature built-in systems for collecting rainwater. They are also designed to maximize natural ventilation and will be constructed from prefabricated, sustainable materials.
In addition to their project in New Orleans, Berman and Kotchen custom-made design, energy efficient homes for the wealthier members of society. Under their ecological campaign they are trying to change the way customers perceive their status and space. Although many of the wealthier members of the rich attribute society and the success with the number of square feet they have, Berman and Kotchen try to persuade them that smaller is actually better, and they may have the opulence, luxury and good design in a small space.
Wilfred Wang, one of America is more colorful and controversial architects, said that for the builders to save the planet they need to stop building. He argues that instead of designing new buildings, or demolish existing buildings and replacement with entirely new structures, architects should upgrade existing buildings to make them more efficient.
In response to the environmental crisis and energy, many environmentally friendly housing projects have been proposed or put into effect across in the world. In Las Vegas the Enchantment Way Development Project has recently been announced. The project is part of the pilot U.S. Green Building Council Program to introduce the techniques of green building and energy efficient design in the region. Part of the project will focus on creating a desert tortoise habitat and protect native desert growth.
Britain is his first residential project entirely Green subdivision on maps, with a proposed development in the Docklands of London. The project will include wind turbines, rainwater harvesting, fruit and vegetable gardens, solar panels, a club and a club cycle carpool. Austria has its own Solar City EcoCity or using insulation materials modern solar panels to reduce energy use and urban planning unique locates all City facilities and amenities with walking distance from each other. Australia has the Aurora housing project which aims to provide 8000 homes energy efficient for 25,000 people over the next 20 years. And even India is getting in on the action with the solar Rabi Rashmi Abasan Kolkata powered housing complex.
Many people believe that the current slump in housing market and construction is exactly the boost that green housing initiatives need to propel into the limelight and make their own advantages to the attention of an audience desperate. A report by McGraw-Hill Construction and National Association of Home Builders shows that the green property market expected to grow from 12 billion dollars in 2008 to between 40 and 70 billion dollars in 2012. This suggests that green building projects will soon join more than traditional methods of construction in both popularity and profit margins.
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Sandra wrote this article for the online marketers Trafalgar property managers leading specialists in property management, residential letting and property insurance.
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