Reconstructing Communities with Green
Buildings
By Noelle Hirsch, Sierra Club Green
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Green building is taking the construction industry by storm, and its benefits
are perhaps best seen in disaster-related rebuilds. The pros of sustainable and
energy-saving construction are easy for most to identify.
Reducing energy
consumption with efficient building materials, household appliances, and
heating and cooling systems benefits the environment and saves the building
owner money. Green buildings often last longer, too, meaning they won't require
frequent updates and remodels.
However, most people become initially concerned
with green building startup costs. In this sense, disaster zones can be
something of a blank slate for developers: When towns or cities need rebuilds,
developers often have an easier time incentivizing home and business owners to
construct with water and energy efficiency in mind. As a result, the documented
success of these redevelopment projects in many ways is spurning the growth of
the green movement across the board.
While most of the structures now standing in the
United States lack efficiency, it's simply because they were constructed in an
era that prized grand structures and speed of building over energy conservation
and responsible sourcing. Today's energy landscape is much different than it
was even just 20 years ago. Inefficient buildings are one of the biggest hidden
costs in our economy, and even small changes can add up to dramatic savings—for
both the planet and the pocketbook.
Money savings almost always lead to economic
advantages, but the results are particularly noticeable after a disaster. When
an F5 tornado leveled most of Greensburg, Kansas in 2007, city officials made a
commitment to building back all official structures according to the United
States Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) standards. The immediate savings were dramatic, but an even more
telling part of the story is that those savings stuck.
"Five years after the violent event, the
town is now saving $200,000 in annual energy costs for thirteen buildings,"
Green Tech Enterprise reported in August 2012. "Greensburg is now
providing measured building performance that proves the benefits of sustainable
design."
Similar green rebuilding initiatives were
spearheaded in New Orleans after the wake of Hurricane Katrina; in Haiti after
a devastating 2010 earthquake; and in parts of Victoria, Australia after a
spate of heavily destructive wildfires. Increasingly, city governments and
local officials are incorporating energy-conscious construction into their disaster
recovery plans. In the United States, much of the incentive for these programs
comes at the urging of the U.S. Department of Energy.
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