Shelter

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.