Because humans spend 90 percent of their
lives indoors, shelter is something that has become very important to us. We
rely on it to protect us from the outdoor elements and help us to live our
lives comfortably. More recently however, we have come to realize that “going
green” and being sustainable is a way in which we must try to live our lives
for the sake of the environment and future generations. Building LEED certified
houses and buildings is one way to help the sustainability efforts. Though there
are other certification processes throughout the world, LEED is currently the
most prevalent assessment method in the United States. There are four levels of
certification, platinum, gold, silver, and certified, that a building can be rated
as. The nine categories they rate the buildings on is sustainable sites, water
efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor
environmental quality, locations and linkages, awareness and education,
innovation and design, and regional priority. While the group was presenting on
the materials and resources section I found the information on biomimicry very
interesting. There are so many things in nature that we could learn from and
have yet to understand that could be innovative in the resources we use, and the
way in which we build future sustainable buildings. I was also very interested
to learn that the McKeown center and the new Centennial apartments are both
LEED certified. It is nice to know that our school is doing its best to be
sustainable. What is unfortunate about sustainable buildings however, is that
it is difficult to for most people to have sustainable houses. Even though they may want to do want they can to
be sustainable and “go green,” to help out our environment, most people do not
have the means to do so.
