Sustainable Development Through Green Building Construction

Man has constructed buildings for working, living and leisure since the advent of civilization. Over the centuries, many architectural styles evolved and buildings became more complex. During the last hundred years or so, the energy consumed in buildings for lighting, heating and cooling has increased enormously. This, in turn, has led to a sharp increase in the consumption of fossil fuels and electricity derived from them. As the world faces increasing environmental and resource related problems, it is imperative that we design and construct buildings that would be energy efficient. A green building, also known as a sustainable building, is a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. Green buildings are designed to meet certain objectives such as protecting occupant health; improving employee productivity; using energy, water, and other resources more efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to the environment. The paper attempts to highlight some of the methods to develop a green building or convert our existing buildings into green buildings.