Why are commercial green buildings important?
Consider for a moment the fact that buildings account for nearly a quarter of the world’s virgin wood harvests. If that alone isn’t terrifying enough, as a result of fossil fuel combustion and high energy demands buildings are responsible for over a third of carbon dioxide emissions! According to the Environmental Protection Agency, buildings also contribute nearly 39% of the United States’ energy use, 12% of its water consumption, and 68% of its total electricity consumption. Additionally, buildings are one of the largest contributors to water and air pollution and generate massive amounts of construction-related waste. Yet with these alarming statistics in mind, many architects, builders, and designers are beginning to fight the negative environmental impacts with green technology. In the Bay area, this building revolution is literally happening right in our backyards! The Leslie Shao-Ming Sun Field Station, located on the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, is such an outstanding example of green technology that it was recently recognized by Sustainable San Mateo County.
1. What is a green commercial building?
Green building is an increasingly popular movement that seeks to rethink the way in which structures use energy, water, and resources. Through improved siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal, green buildings minimize their environmental footprint. The functionality of these buildings is linked to the use of renewable resources, such as sunlight in the form of solar energy. Additionally, these structures often operate at significantly lower costs than their non-green counterparts.
2. Why care about commercial green buildings?
Energy reduction in the form of solar paneling and passive cooling allows for the conservation of electricity, water, and money. Furthermore, the use of salvaged or sustainably harvested building materials preserves precious natural resources such as trees and rock. On a world-wide level, the drastic reduction of carbon emissions through the use of green technology combats the disturbing effects of Global Warming. As if that wasn’t enough, these buildings also allow for economic benefits such as reduced operational costs as well as the creation and expansion of new “green” markets. With these myriad environmental and economic benefits, the positive economic and environmental impacts of green commercial buildings cannot be underscored enough.
3. What is the Leslie Shao-Ming Sun Field Station?
Green buildings provide a solution to both the environmental problems and extreme operational costs associated with most commercial buildings. The Shao-Ming Station paves the way for a sustainable future with an annual net zero carbon emission and the thoughtful incorporation of sustainable building material. The station similarly excels in its ability to maximize productivity with minimal energy expenditures and cost.
4. What are possible sustainable solutions?
Buildings would conserve resources such as lumber, water, and energy in order to optimize productivity. Additionally, these green buildings would contribute to economic stability through reductions in operational costs. Through the removal of toxic elements within indoor building spaces, buildings would also result in improved societal health. Yet in order for these goals to be achieved, the citizens of San Mateo County must recognize sustainability as a priority in buildings.
5. More about the Shao-Ming Sun Field Station
The Shao-Ming Sun Field Station is a stellar example of improved functionality through green technology. The following are only a few of the green touches that merited the station’s recognition by SSMC: an 80% decrease in heating requirements, the elimination of nearly 90% of the buildings’ cooling requirements, a steel frame consisting of nearly 80% recycled material, and insulation composed entirely of recycled newspaper. Finally, the structure incorporates only salvaged or sustainably harvested building materials. With all of these environmentally—and cost—friendly touches, the station embodies the increasing attractiveness of environmental sustainability in buildings. In an age of energy-guzzling appliances and highly wasteful habits, the Leslie Shao-Ming Field Station shines as an example of the greening of construction.
Further Information and Links:
The Sun Field Station ONLINE:
On its website, www.jrbp.stanford.edu, Jasper Ridge offers visitors the chance to see the Field Station in action. The website provides up to the minute information about the buildings consumption of energy. You can even view daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly energy trends.
Interested in a Green Building:
The main page for the Shao-Ming Field Station also includes links to both the U.S. Green Building Council and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technology Program. These websites make sustainable building even easier with regular updates on technological design advances as well as contact information for green architects and construction companies.