We live in a “green age”, in which we now must protect the nature that we ourselves as humans have damaged so much in the past tens of years. The situation with the ozone layer, melting glaciers, and all the other calamities, made the man to try and invent, or let’s say, upgrade certain existing things, which currently are very pollutant, into eco friendly ones. Because of this, we are starting to use various alternate sources of energy, such as the wind, the water, the sun.




We have the eco/green vehicles which run on as the mentioned alternate source of energy. A new method of protecting the nature is by designing and building the so-called green buildings. It is acceptable to say that a new type of architecture has been created: the green architecture. The main purpose of the green architecture is to create structures that are environmental friendly and resource-efficient.



Green architecture seeks to minimize a building’s harmful environmental impact by using in moderation the power and the resources required for the construction, without sacrificing its comfort, utility and durability.  In order to accomplish this task, green architecture tries to take advantage of the renewable resources.

Rain gardens and green roofs are used in many cases, as they reduce the rainwater run-off. Another solution for reducing the rainwater run-off is by replacing the conventional asphalt with permeable concrete.

The design of such a building is extremely important. The green architects must take advantage of the surrounding area, of the natural resources which are in the proximity of the house. In windy areas, undersized wind turbines will be placed and solar panels are a certainty when creating these buildings. If the house is surrounded by trees, the architects design the house in such a manner that the windows will be facing them. This way, during the summer, the roof or the windows will be shaded, thus avoiding the house from overheating, and during the winter, the sun won’t have a problem heating them.

Green architecture also focuses on waste reduction, because in most cases, a commercial building creates the biggest waste in a city. In order to solve this problem, it is common to install devices that transform waste and wastewater into fertilizer. Human waste can also be transformed into bio-gas. Compost bins are also a solution as they could reduce the waste from going to landfills. These little changes will help the nature, by clearing the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Water can be a problem, but the green architecture has this covered as well by creating solar water heating, which can generate almost 380 liters of hot water per day. In case you are wondering why you don’t see too many of these green buildings, the answer is: money. The only negative aspect of these buildings is that they cost way more than a regular building, but since they are using these alternate sources of energy, in some years, the extra money required for the construction would be recovered.

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