The whole world is dealing with tremendous environmental issues like change in weather patterns, hotter summers, shorter winters, insufficient monsoons, and the construction industry is one of the top contributors for the rise of carbon content due to the rise of the housing sector leading to the consumption of more raw materials, energy and other non-renewable resources. Preserving the world’s ecology and taking care of its finite resources is now important more than ever. To deal with the rising global warming and to reduce the climate change impact of the unfriendly industries and enterprises green technology comes into play.  

THE NEED OF GREEN MATERIALS IN CONSTRUCTION

1. The demand for material has been continuously rising with the increasing need for housing both in rural and urban areas.

2. The resources used to manufacture construction materials affect the environment by depleting natural resources, using energy, and releasing pollutants to the land, water.

3. Commercial exploitation of traditional building materials by various industries has aggravated the situation. Construction activities like grading, demolition, operation of diesel engines are responsible for air pollution.

HOW CIVIL ENGINEERS CAN HELP IN REDUCING THE IMPACT OF CONSTRUCTION ON ENVIRONMENT

Civil engineers can work towards developing innovative green buildings using new environmentally friendly, safe, and non-toxic materials and smart monitoring techniques. The use of green technology can reduce the amount of waste and pollution and provide an early warning message that is created during production, consumption, and impact of a natural disaster. Civil engineers have to see how they can meet the needs of society without damaging or depleting natural resources.

ADVANTAGES OF GREEN BUILDING

• Low maintenance and operation cost: The incorporation ofunique construction features while construction of green building ensures efficient use of resources such as water and energy. The cost of constructing a green building may go a little higher than the non-green buildings, but the reduced operation and maintenance costs of green buildings make them much cheaper in the long run.

• Energy efficiency: Designers of green buildings try to use renewable resources much as possible to reduce dependency on non-renewable sources such as coal. The use of solar panels to use energy from the sun and allowing as much natural light as possible that reduces the use of artificial light is just an example through which green building helps in energy efficiency.

• Water efficiency: Green building allows for the use of alternative sources of water such as rainwater, reducing water waste through the installation of plumbing fixtures that are efficient and reducing the strain on shared water resources by installing systems that purify water and enable recycling.

• Material efficiency: Green building construction companies use long-lasting materials, recycle and reuse some products, design buildings in a manner that allows for the use of fewer materials and employ processes that use less water, raw materials, and energy. All these help achieve material efficiency.

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