The Green Wall — Building to Reduce Environmental Pollution

One of the primary ways we damage the planet is through the buildings we construct. Buildings, large and small, have an impact on our environment — from the materials they consume to the energy and pollution they emit. But in recent years, architects, designers and builders have started to find answers to some of the environmental issues. Utilising innovative designs and materials, and a few surprising solutions, they have even designed and constructed buildings that clean the environment. Let’s take a look on how modern buildings are helping to reduce pollution.

Cradle to Grave

One approach to reducing pollution that is used in many industries, including construction, is to consider the total life cycle of the project:

1. From extraction of building materials from the ground,
2. Through the impact of the building during its use,
3. To the reuse of the construction materials when the building’s use has ended.

Such an approach comes under the banner of Life Cycle Assessment or LCA. An international standard ISO14040 refers to LCA as “the collection of inputs and outputs of any potential environmental impacts caused by the product system throughout its life cycle”.

When a LCA is carried out during the design phase, the best alternatives can be implemented to make sure that the building has the lowest possible environmental footprint.

Is Your House Eco-Friendly?

Another approach to reducing the environmental impact and pollution is to build eco-friendly buildings. This covers everything – such as solar panels on the roof or even using water-based paints to reducing the energy used.

Television programmes such as C4’s Grand Designs have highlighted how it is relatively straightforward to design or renovate a single house to be eco-friendly. Examples such as constructing a reed filter bed to take care of human effluent are techniques that can be accomplished on relatively small buildings.

But what about large buildings? Have architects and construction firms managed to construct large, eco-friendly buildings?

Green Buildings — Literally

The answer is a resounding yes! Architects and construction companies have used new materials and techniques to help make buildings as eco-friendly as possible. One of the most striking examples of a green building can be seen in Seoul City Hall.

This building is quite literally a green building — having a seven storey living wall at the centre of the building. Containing thousands of plants, the wall sucks in pollutants and dust removing pollution from the air. The plants act as a natural temperature and humidity regulator too, saving valuable energy resources. Solar panels on the roof provide up to 29% of the building’s energy needs and geothermal energy provides heated floors further reducing the reliance on fossil fuels.

Government subsidy for indoor plants — could be an election winner.

Building with Air Pollution?

Research being carried out in Australia is looking at locking up air pollution in building blocks. So in the future, the air pollution of today could be converted into the buildings of the future. WOW!