Architecture Design with Environmentally Friendly

There once was a day where one someone was speaking about the word green, it was obvious they were referring to a color formed by mixing yellow and blue. That assumption is no longer true; with our society leaning toward a healthier environment and ways we can help save the earth, the term green now takes on a whole new meaning. One way to support an environmentally conscious lifestyle is with green architecture.

'Green Architecture' is a form of environmentally sensitive design and construction. Energy-saving, sustainable development and natural materials are all hallmarks of this form of construction. Green Architecture is also sensitive to the impact of the construction on the environment in the years and decades after the construction is complete. It explores a relationship between architecture and ecology.

One of the key points to green architecture is to create synchrony with the surrounding environment. Everything about a green building should easily transition from the natural landscape, including the building materials. The best material to use for green construction is materials that have been recycled or come from easily restored resources.

Advantages of Green Architecture:

1. Optimizes the use of resources, especially energy and water. At the design and construction stage, it incorporates resource recycling during construction, and later when the building is being used.
2. It causes minimal impact on the environment during the entire building life cycle of siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance and removal.
3. Where possible, the natural topography is used to optimize energy usage.
4. It leads to reduced operating costs by optimizing resource usage. Green Architecture focuses on recycling resources - especially water. Wherever possible, it focuses on using building materials from the building site itself. Well-insulated doors, windows and walls reduce energy usage and loss.
5. Green Architecture promotes improved health of the occupants of the building, due to better natural air circulation and use of natural light.
6. Provides onsite facilities for recycling, thereby minimizing waste being sent to landfills.

Materials Commonly Used in Green Architecture

1. Recycled materials such as wood, tiles and bricks that are available at the building site or in/near the surrounding area.

2. Where new materials are used, the focus is on material that can be rapidly replenished, such as bamboo, which can be harvested for commercial use in just 6 years.

3. Insulation made from low volatile organic compounds that use materials such as recycled denim as opposed to fiberglass insulation - which has long-term adverse effects. Insulation may be treated with boric acid to retard insect damage. Organic or milk-based paints also afford protection.

4. Solar energy is an abundant resource that is used through passive solar, active solar and photovoltaic techniques.

5. Packed gravel in parking lots and driveways instead of concrete reduces rainwater run-off and replenishes ground water resources.

Many countries have developed their own standards of Green Architecture for energy-efficient and sustainable building. Given below are some common standards:

1. Code for Sustainable Homes - United Kingdom

2. EnerGuide for New Houses - Canada

3. House Energy Rating - Australia

4. Green Globes - USA, Canada and UK

Practitioners of Green Architecture and sustainable development seek to achieve ecological and aesthetic harmony between structures and their surrounding natural environments.

Design Spa In Your Own Bath

Transform your own bath, through simple interior decorating ideas, into the spa-like atmosphere you crave. When thinking of that sanctuary, think natural healthy living and relaxation. Go natural with your colors and accessories. Like the sound of sand and surf, so incorporate those colors (soft blues and tans) in your bath. Bring in soft mossy greens and browns to anchor the color palette. In accessories, keep everything neutral in creams, greens, blues, and browns.

Think texture, feel, and minimalism when choosing bath accessories, such as towels. Fluffy, white towels rolled up and placed in a natural wicker basket by the side of the bath is ideal. Group bath soaps and salts together in pretty glass apothecary jars, using them as accessories. Place lotions, extra towels, and other bathroom needs behind closed doors or attractively on a shelf. Keep this space very uncluttered and clean.

Well-placed flowers and green plants soften the edges and coldness of the bath and add to the spa atmosphere. Live orchids love the humidity of the bath, as do other real plants. First, use candlelight- soy candles are fragrant and burn cleaner (good for the environment and your home.) If the candles are fragrant, add no more scent. Some popular scents are rosewood and lavender. Soft, background music, waterfall sounds, or complete silence are relaxing and calming, and add to the ambiance. Dim the lights, or use just candlelight for a soft glow.
Enjoy the moment of quiet and sink into the tub of sudsy water. Block out the outer world.

The house, defined by retaining walls burrowed into the hillside

In the desert of Arizona, architect Rick Joy has created a rough weathered steel exterior form that contrasts with the refinement of the soft white, steel and maple wood interior palette. The house, defined by retaining walls burrowed into the hillside, is punctuated with openings that frame articulated views of the landscape.

No house should ever be on a hill [...] It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other

Home with Natural Design

 
In a location as picturesque as Vals, Switzerland, it’s difficult to imagine any new construction that wouldn’t impose on the beautiful landscape. So when the rare opportunity was granted to construct a new dwelling just a stone’s throw away from the famed Vals thermal baths, it was of paramount importance to not disturb the tranquil site. Designed by the architects of SeArch and Christian Müller, this underground house exemplifies the notion that thoughtfully constructed buildings can live in harmony with their surrounding environs.