Green News
Sustainable roofing part 4- Green Roofs
In the Green News  section. A green roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and soil, or a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. Green roofs reduce city “heat island” effect, reduce summer air conditioning cost and reduce volume and peak rates of stormwater.
Green roofs can also be roofs that utilize some form of "green" technology, such as solar panels or a photovoltaic modules.
Green roofs are referred to as eco-roofs, vegetated roofs, living roofs, and greenroofs. Green roofs are categorized as intensive, "semi-intensive" or extensive.
Sustainable roofing part 3- High Performance Roofing (HPR)
In the Green News section. The "Five E's" of High Performance Roofing. HPR protective umbrellas share five important characteristics that make them energy efficient, environmentally friendly, cost effective, leak proof, reliable and long-lasting:
1.Endurance
2.Economics
3.Energy
4.Environment
5.Engineering
When designing a HPR roof system, we take all these points into consideration.
Sustainable roofing part 2
In the Green News section. If you are building a new house or replacing your roof, try and install a sustainable roof.
It's a roofing system that is designed, constructed, maintained, rehabilitated, and demolished with an emphasis throughout its life cycle on using natural resources efficiently and preserving the global environment.
Homeowners Should Consider the Big (Environmental) Picture
While many homeowners may think that a sustainable roof requires a large gesture, choosing any one of these options can make a large environmental impact. Even asphalt shingles can be upgraded to reduce energy and construction waste and could just get you a break on your homeowner's insurance.
Sustainable roofing part 1
In the Green News section. More new-home buyers are becoming interested in making sure their roofing material not only protects their house but also causes the least harm possible to the environment.
More than half of architects in a recent American Institute of Architects survey reported increased demand for sustainable roofing products in 2007. That includes everything from "green roofs" with living plants to traditional roofing materials made with recycled content.
In Dallas, at least 95 percent of roofs have composition shingles, area builders estimate. These are an asphalt-fiberglass combination, something the eco-friendly building movement typically avoids because of the product's reliance on petroleum.
Driving Green
In the Green News section. Buying green is just the first step in reducing the environmental impacts of automobile use. Your choice of vehicle is most important, but how you drive and how well you maintain your car, van, or light truck will also make a difference.
Habitat Gardening and Xeriscaping
In the Green News section. Habitat gardening is becoming very popular, it is a type of landscaping and gardening that uses native plants and water elements that help to maintain the natural ecosystem of the area. Creating an edge effect (as in the edge of forest or natural habitat) by using plants of all sizes laid out in a step down effect to allow all sort of spiders, and bugs that are useful in your garden, refuge. Water features like ponds and fountains provide bird baths and frog sanctuaries, and calming sounds of nature.
If you haven’t considered a vegetable or herb garden before, they can be quite therapeutic and rewarding. Money is saved by providing your own, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and beans but it also helps to regenerate areas of land that have been deprived of valuable nutrients.
Budgeting for Green Building
In the Green News section. When establishing a design and a budget for a green building, the key point to remember is that sustainability is a program issue, rather than an added requirement. Our analysis indicates that it is necessary to understand the project goals, the approach to achieving the goals, and the factors at play in for the project. Simply choosing to add a premium to a budget for a non-green building will not give any meaningful reflection of the cost for that building to meet its green goals. The first question in budgeting should not be "How much more will it cost?," but "How will we do this?" This must be done as early as possible in the project and it must be considered at every step of design and construction. This is done by: - Establishing team goals, expectations & expertise.
- Including specific goals in the Program.
- Aligning budget with program.
- Staying on track through design and construction.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that sustainability is not a below-the-line item.
Success in Green Building
In the Green News section. Steps to Ensure Success- Establish a vision that embraces sustainable principles and an integrated design approach.
- Develop a clear statement of the project's vision, goals, design criteria, and priorities.
- Develop a project budget that covers green building measures. Allocate contingencies for additional research and analysis of specific options. Seek sponsorship or grant opportunities.
- Seek advice of a design professional with green building experience.
- Select a design and construction team that is committed to the project vision. Modify the RFQ/RFP selection process to ensure the contractors have appropriate qualifications to identify, select, and implement an integrated system of green building measures.
- Develop a project schedule that allows for systems testing and commissioning.
- Develop contract plans and specifications to ensure that the building design is at a suitable level of building performance.
- Create effective incentives and oversight.
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