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Elements of Green Building

Wind turbines (Vendsyssel, Denmark, 2004)

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Studies have shown that green building gives its owner greater energy savings, increases a property’s market value, improves health and quality of life of occupants, and reduces one’s carbon footprint. Given the many benefits of green building, it makes sense for architects and their clients to opt for environmentally and economically sound building practices. So how are green buildings different from traditional buildings?

To come up with a sustainable building, green builders address four crucial areas: materials, energy, water, and health. First, green builders determine the sources and uses of building materials. They ask questions such as: Are the materials obtained from natural and renewable energy sources? How are efficient are they in reducing waste? Are they re-usable or recyclable? Examples of green building materials are bamboo wall panels and reclaimed lumber.

Next, green builders employ technologies and building designs that can lower the building’s energy use. Renewable energy technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines are integrated to allow a building to generate its own electricity and reduce its reliance on mains. Natural daylight and open air designs further reduce lighting and cooling costs. Low-energy appliances are also considered. They also make sure that the building is well-insulated to increase its HVAC efficiency (heating, ventilation, and cooling system).

Water use is minimized by installing water collecting systems and by installing water-efficient appliances such as self-closing spray taps.

Lastly, green builders use non-toxic, emission-free, and moisture-resistant materials and products. Doing so, indoor air quality and health of its occupants are improved.

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Some renovation tit-bits

BURBANK, CA - APRIL 11: A customer looks in t...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Renovating your home might be a mind boggling exercise for you. You would not know where to start and where to end. When you decide to renovate your home, there are endless possibilities of renovation. You can come up with so many ideas and implement them. But you need to ask yourself, if it fits within your budget.

You can renovate your home using simple stuff. You don’t need expensive things to make your house look beautiful. It is all about having an artistic sense. If you do not have an interior and exterior decoration sense, you can look-up catalogues to derive inspiration.

Before renovating your home draw up a plan. An architectural plan provides a roadmap for you construction agents. You might have to spend some money to ask the architect to provide you a plan. But it’s worth it.

Before even thinking of renovation, get the required funds to do so. You need adequate funds to support the renovation. Do not renovate your house in phases. Either do it at one stretch, or do it in very small portions. Because if you do it this way, you avoid any scope of changes to the renovation. Changes mean more expenses.The first step is to get the help of professional

demolishers. Demolishing requires careful practice and expertise. If you rely on amateur demolisher, you might end up getting cracked walls which were not on your list for renovating.

Another important aspect is carpentry. You might want an all-wood inner wall configuration. You should look at wood types that have resistance to all weather conditions. When building the wall, draw up plans for the interiors.

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Forms of Architectural Designs

Architecture is a form of art where architectures use live buildings to make their real. And like art, architecture too has many different forms and styles which are well defined and separated from others. Over the years, architecture has evolved to incorporate many more styles and sub styles under them. Below are some of the most popular architecture styles.

Art Deco: This is the art that became popular in the 1920’s when the machine age was under way. Many buildings are still standing with these designs. The architecture is more or less decorated by geometric styles.

Colonial: This architecture style was the one which was developed after colonials came and began settling in America. It is a mixture of styles from English, French, Spanish and Dutch cultural styles.

Contemporary: This form of style began originating in the 1070’s and 1950’s. The two most popular designs under this architectural styles are the gabled roof and flat roof types. The style was characterised by lack of ornamentation and odd window size. Use of materials such as wood, stone and brick was incorporated.

Georgian: This architecture style was made in honor of monarchs who ruled england with the name of george. The hoems with this style are known to be luxurious and refied with symemtric chimneys. Another odd feature of this design is the appearance of a row of five windows.

Gothic Revival: This was a popular style in the 1800 when English romanticism influenced the architecture. Pointed arches and Gothic windows were the prominent parts of this design.

International: This design was made famous by architectures in the 20th century by european architects. There was no decoratioon and ornamentation and used materials as glass, concrete and steel.

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Buildings and Environement

There are a handful of us who will still walk long distances, holding on to our plastic and aluminum trash until we find a suitable place to dispose of these items. A handful is not enough as the world is still suffering heavy pollution by substances that were not always there. Pollution is ofcourse an umbrella term for anything that disturbs the very nature of nature. It is not just the unceremonious dumping of plastic waste anywhere and everywhere. The removal of chemical waste into natural systems, pollutes the waters.

Everything is affected by the act of pollution. They say smoking is bad for your health and the health of others. There is rarely anything said about the effect of smoking on the environment. It is not just the smoke…which is bad enough. Did you know that asbestos, the material that cigarette filters are made of, takes anywhere between 3 months to a few years to be completely degraded? Plastic, oil, DDT etc similarly take just as much time. It is only in the past few years that scientists have found and honed the use of bacteria in speeding up this degradation.

All is not lost however. There are many, scientists included, who believe that there is still time. Time to save our precious planet. It only makes sense to understand that we’d be better off fixing things right here before we look for other habitable planets in the universe…we haven’t found any yet. While a few countries and corporations are picking up the pieces, still more needs to be done. We have to try and break away from fossil fuel dependency, it won’t last that long anyways.

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Landscape Architecture

Landscape architecture is a fast emerging form of architecture where one does not have to build large buildings and bridges. This architecture involves the design of public and private out door spaces. This is done to increase the aesthetics of man made concrete structures to use the place for social behaviour and meeting.

It is not as simple as gardening and involves various factors such as geological and ecological considerations to base the design of the outdoor environment on. Many different design elements are incorporated that increase the aesthetic appeal in different ways. To obtain a desired out come, a landscape architecture has to understand the different natural colors and other various outdoor fixtures that add to the beauty of the outdoors. Landscape architecture can also be called as outdoor decoration as opposed to indoor decorator. Many different professions include in this areas like site planning, parks, residential area design, green infrastructure provision and planning, professional corporate outdoor area planning, environmental restoration and urban design, etc.

This field incorporates knowledge from areas such as architecture, botany, geology, earth sciences, fine arts, geography, industrial design and ecology. Fields of activity of a lands scape architect include development of new towns and cities, sustainable development, management of storm water and other environmental amenities. One of the major reasons that corporations and professionals hire landscape architects is to make their campuses and residents more environmentally friendly. This is catching on very fast with more and more people getting their outdoor space filled with greenery. The reducing green spaces in cities is pushing people to make their houses greener and more friendlier. If one does not have a suitable out door space, then terraces are converted into terrace gardens. Since buildings are destructive to the surrounding environment, landscape architects are hired to reduce the environmental impact by bringing in natural factors that offset the damages caused to the nature.

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Choosing a School District

When you are choosing a new home, one of the most important things you will consider if you have children is the school district. It is hard to believe, but there can be a dramatic difference from one school to a neighboring one. There are many things you need to look over and consider when choosing a school district.

First, take a look at test scores. This is considered to be the main factor to look at when comparing schools. This doesn’t mean that a school that isn’t performing the best in the district isn’t a good school, but it is certainly something to consider. More important than the actual score is the improvement from one year to the next. A school that is improving is likely a better school than one that is remaining constant or going down.

Another consideration is the ethnic makeup. This doesn’t mean that you want to choose a school based on the races of those that attend, but it may be in your child’s best interest if they aren’t in the dramatic minority. If there is a school that only has 1% of children that are your child’s race, it may not be as good of an option as one that offers say 40%. This will simply help your child to feel like they belong.

A final consideration when choosing schools is what programs they offer. If your child is into swimming, you may want to choose a school with a swimming program and school pool. If your child loves music, a school that offers a choir or marching band will give them an activity to participate in.

No matter what school you choose, take the time to become an active part of it. The school will be a better place the more parents that take the time to be active in the PTA or other organizations. Your child’s education will greatly benefit.

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Retail Access – An Important Consideration

One thing many people fail to consider when they are looking at purchasing a new home or renting an apartment is the access to nearby shopping. The easy access of shopping areas can be a more important aspect for some people than others, but is a consideration that should be made by all.

How often have you been preparing dinner and realized you ran out of a key ingredient?  If you have a convenient grocery store this may only delay you fifteen minutes or so, but if you have to drive 10 miles to a major shopping area, get in traffic and then drive 10 miles home this could wind up taking you an hour or more. Time is a commodity that we can never have enough of, so if this happens even twice a month, this is a cost that may be precious to us.

Many retailers are seeing the importance of having a convenient shopping location to residential areas and are filling in the gaps for us. This can be a great opportunity for the smaller grocery stores to compete with Wal-mart. Wal-mart may offer lower prices, but if someone has to drive an extra 10 minutes and get into traffic they are likely going to choose to shop at the other retailer.

Take a look around your community and see what stores have made the effort to be convenient locations for the residents. Next time you are looking for a new home I’m sure you will take the time to see what retail locations will be convenient for you when you check out the other amenities available. You will save yourself hours in the long run and also keep you from facing added stress from dealing with the major shopping destinations in the city itself. Then when you have to run to the store to grab a gallon of milk you can pat yourself on the back for a wise decision.

when you have to run to the store to grab a gallon of milk you can pat yourself on the back for a wise decision.

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Flint Residents Stuck in Worthless Homes

Few cities in the United States tell the story of the decline of the American auto industry and real estate markets more than Flint, Michigan. Flint was once a one of the most important building centers for one of the most powerful manufacturing firms in the world. While Flint rose with the American automobile industry, its fall tells the story of the danger of linking the health of an entire community to a single industry or corporation.

Flint was a booming place at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the divisional headquarters for major automobile manufacturers including Chevrolet and General Motors. In the two decades following 1910, Flint’s population quadrupled. Since the decline of the American auto industry in the beginning of the 1980s Flint has hemorrhaged population. Layoffs and plant closings have created economic distress in the city, and Flint’s unemployment rate is in the high double digits. Flint’s population sits at 111,000 now, which is 13,000 less than a decade before. Almost 20 percent of the homes in Flint are now empty.

The city that was once known as the Vehicle City has received national attention due to the work of its most famous resident. Michael Moore depicted the beginning of Flint’s decline in the documentary Roger and Me. Moore chased the CEO of GM around seeking an interview to find out why so many workers in Flint have been laid off. The documentary debuted more than 20 years ago, and Flint’s problems have only grown since then.

Flint’s decline might only be trumped by the population loss in New Orleans. While Hurricane Katrina is the reason that New Orleans lost so much of his population, Flint’s situation appears to have almost no immediate solution. Flint homes are virtually worthless, and like many other citizens of industrial towns in decline the citizens of Flint have little hope for an improvement in the local real estate market.

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Cleveland’s Decline

Winter at Cleveland's lakefront
Image via Wikipedia

The great recession that began in 2008 exasperated a decline that had already began in many major American cities. Once the American economy began trading factory manufacturing for services many once mighty U.S. cities have struggled to maintain their population and their tax base. Once their populations began to leave property values plummeted and cities that once had been powerful economic centers have become dying towns.

Cleveland was once not only a huge center for manufacturing and an important trading porting on Lake Erie. Cleveland was home to once powerful industries that no longer exist. Peerless, People’s and Winton have left as have thousands of Cleveland residents. The Midwest headquarters for Standard Oil once had a population that was close to one million. The number of people that call Cleveland home now sits at less than 450,000, and that figure continues to fall. Cleveland lost almost 10 percent of its population in the last decade. Nearly 20 percent of the homes in Cleveland are now vacant. Pollution and municipal government issues caused Cleveland to earn the nickname “the mistake on the lake” in the 1970s. Now Cleveland is a city that just hopes to hold on to the population it still has. Even the city’s most famous resident left Cleveland for greener pastures. LeBron James decided to take his talents to South Beach, which caused another blow in pride to a once proud city.

Cleveland was once one of the largest cities in the United States. Its decline is a lesson that even the most powerful economic areas can fall out of favor. While the reasons for Cleveland’s decline are easy to track, but finding a solution to reverse the trend is more difficult. Without residents to help Cleveland rebuild provide the services for a healthy community are nearly impossible to provide.

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