ABSTRACT
The design of buildings with ‘Green’ materials is becoming more mainline and creating new avenues for business development. The use of ‘green’ materials and ‘green’ building practices came about as an avenue to slowdownor stop our depletion of the earth’s natural elements and thus preserve future life on earth. ‘Green’ materials include those which are renewable and cause the least impact on the environment. There is a pressing need for environmentally sensitive buildings. ‘Green’ buildings offer substantial reductions in materials, water, and energy consumption in addition to significantly limiting the disruption of the land they occupy. ‘Green’ buildings also provide advantages that go far beyond the environment: reductions in operating costs; enhanced marketability; increases in occupant comfort and productivity; the creation of healthier, more sustainable community. In short, the essence of ‘green’ building is to design, construct, and operate buildings to minimize their environmental impact and maximize economic performance. While a significant part of this is achieved through efficient operation and maintenance of a building’s systems, it is the creative initial layout (both of the spaces and the structure) and building design that takes full advantage of building ‘green’. This is when structural engineers and architects can impact a project the most.
