Green Building may Provide an Antidote to Climate Change

February 6, 2013 - In the wake of Super storm Sandy and Hurricane Katrina, coastal cities worldwide have been preparing for future mega-storms in a variety of ways. Scientists have warned that as the climate slowly warms and melts polar ice caps, storms such as these, or stronger, will become more common and inundate shorelines.

Recent studies suggest that green buildings not only reduce energy costs and natural resource use, but they also could soften the impact of natural disasters and make life healthier for survivors during the recovery period.

Biologist and science writer David Bainbridge noted recently on the Triple Pundit website that green building is “one of the best antidotes to climate change,” because buildings generate 40 percent of the global warming gases emitted in the U.S. and use 70 percent of the nation’s electricity. Bainbridge wrote that “we can cut energy use by 90 percent in new buildings and 70 percent in retrofits while improving comfort and health.”

Green buildings are designed to be as independent as possible from electricity, oil, gas and coal. These buildings often have their own PV panels and rainwater harvesting cisterns, according to Bainbridge,so they are “less brittle” when faced with natural disasters. When green buildings do get destroyed, their debris is more benign than traditional building materials because of low VOC-emitting compounds.

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