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8 Awesome Technologies for Green Construction

Green Buildings are capturing the attention of constructors across the world. The use of resource-efficient materials in construction not only conserves the non-renewable resources but also enhances the environment-friendly living. Green construction has gained popularity with time because of their noble and innovative approaches towards construction. Generally, green buildings are termed as those ones that are environmentally responsible and rely on resource efficient technique throughout their life cycle. Such construction involves an array of construction areas, such as site selection, design, construction, operation and renovation. Take a look at top 10 technologies used in green construction.

1. Cool roofs: Cool roof cuts down the energy consumption of a building by reflecting the sun rays and decreasing the thermal emittance. It eventually lowers the heat absorption and reduces the pressure from an air-conditioning system. When the summer sun is high on your building, you can enjoy a comparative cool environment inside your house for the application of cool roofs. Generally, two known ways have been employed by cool roofs to reduce heat interior of building ? reflecting heat or tapping cold air inside. Materials play the primary role in this construction. Reflective paints, cool roof shingles and tiles are considered to be the best option for this.

2. Insulation: Green insulation is very common to keep heat away from your house. This stuff is generally attached with the fiber glass shards. This insulation is definitely environment friendly as it is made of recycled materials that are cheaper yet effective. Cotton insulation is very common among all ? the soft blue insulation has denim, your old junk jeans, as its primary material. Cellulose insulation has been accepted by people and they find this material truly effective for green buildings. Recycled paper is the main component of such insulation. There is also fiber glass insulation, as well. But as compared the former two, this insulation has less application since melting down fibers for making this insulation is energy consuming in itself.

3. Biodegradable material: This process makes the disposal of materials eco-friendly. Biodegradable material uses waste products and chemicals to make something useful out of them. In this process, the disposed materials have been used that protects the environment from contamination. Biodegradable paint is one such material that is made out of scarped products. The process shares similarities with the age-old way of creating milk-based paint recipe. The result can be more effective when materials which release no toxin on the soil have been used as the biodegradable materials.

4. Rammed Earth Brick: Rammed earth bricks are made of raw materials of the earth to give a sturdy base to the building. It is not a new process and this material has been on earth decades ago. The density of the brick hides the science for using the material for green building. It is appropriate for controlling the temperature of a building according to the seasonal needs.

5. Storm Water Management: Water flow due to rain and snow flow create a dangerous environment for both rural and urban areas. While rural areas are suffering from erosion issue, urban areas are facing even a more risky situation for creating a hazardous situation for driving. Storm water management helps prevent such condition and at the same time offer a better way to preserve water with a green infrastructure, involving plants and soil for absorbing water.

6. Geothermal heating: The concept completely relies on earth?s natural energy to produce power. Geothermal heating is like wind power and solar power system that regulates the temperature of a building. Generally, water or anti-freezing mixture is responsible for controlling the heat. These materials are pumped through the pipe lines buried under ground. A heat pump is used further for cooling or heating your house.

7. Solar power: The use of solar power definitely reduces non-renewable energy consumptions dramatically. Generally, there are two types of solar power have been used for generating heat ? passive and active solar power. While passive solar power focuses more on absorbing solar rays passively through designing a building as per the positions of the sun, active solar power uses solar panels for generating and storing heat.

8. Electrochromic Smart Glass: Smart glass works smartly with applying science for converting natural energy into power. A small burst of electricity is being placed at the window to charge the ions existed on the window layer, bringing in the change the light it reflects. With this, you can control the amount of light you want or block.

Green buildings start making a strong foothold in the construction and they gradually replace the conventional construction process. With cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions, green technologies are being used worldwide by constructors to provide an easy and far better way for constructing a building.

Article Source: home.howstuffworks.com

8 Awesome Technologies for Green Construction
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