Sustainable Design and Construction Essay -- Green Building, Sustainab

Our world faces energy concerns, global warming, climate change, water shortages, soaring housing costs, economic instability, and dwindling inborn resources. In addition, an inordinate amount of construction waste is produced each day. It is essential to begin taking steps to prevent this pattern from continuing to take us down the road t environmental destruction. The engineers, architects and developers of today, more than ever, share an obligation to create new and innovative structures to turn this cycle around. Buildings and development have an frightful impact on our quality of life and the quality of our environment, both in construction and in operations. Buildings expend 40% of the worlds energy, 25% of its timberland harvest and account for 16% of its water consumption 1, all resources we cannot afford to waste. Buildings of the future need to take the step beyond shelter and work places and arrange as efficient, economic, environmentally sound spaces in which we c an thrive and endure. It is our responsibility to utilize our knowledge and scientific research to move forward in the dry land of design. Sustainable design, or green building, looks to create high performance buildings that improve our health as well as the health of the environment we live in.What is greens Building?According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Green or sustainable building is the practice of creating healthier and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation, operation, maintenance, and demolition.2 Among the many constituents of sustainable design are improvements in water usage, waste reduction, use of recycled materials, reduced energy consumption, and an aesthetically pleasing environment for inhabitants... ...02.pdf. United States Green Building Council, go the USGBC, 2003, USGBC, 27 Feb. 2004, http//www.usgbc.org/AboutUs/mission_facts.asp. Ian Barbour, Ethics in an Age of Technology The Gifford Lectures, Volume two (New York HarperCollins, 1993) 34. The engineer Handbook, Chapter Six Ethics, Santa Clara University School of Engineering, 27 Feb. 2004, http//cseserv.engr.scu.edu/NQuinn/ENGR019_301Winter2004/EngrHandbook_Ethics.pdf. James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 4th ed. (San Francisco McGraw Hill, 2003) 128. The Engineering Handbook, http//cseserv.engr.scu.edu/NQuinn/ENGR019_301Winter2004/EngrHandbook_Ethics.pdf. Barbour, 57. Thomas Shanks, S.J., Ph.D., How Did I Live Today?, 2003, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University, 27 February 2004, http//www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/today.html.