Real Estate Update

Posts Tagged ‘green’

Steel Buildings – Green Applications

Gone are the outdated corrugated metal buildings of the past. The new generation of pre engineered steel buildings are finding use in an ever growing variety of Green building projects. Steel buildings are leading the way in the Green building revolution, meeting Green building design goals with innovative building design, engineering and use of materials.

Building Green

Green building design, also known as “sustainable building” is coming of age as we recognize that global resources are limited and that climate change is inevitable – unless we take positive action now.

Green building recognizes the environmental impact of buildings, their construction, lifecycle and ultimate demolition, and works to lessen this impact through

* Energy efficiency * Environmentally sound building materials * Innovative building design * Healthy indoor environment

Environmentally Friendly Pre-engineered Steel Buildings

Pre-engineered steel buildings also known as prefabricated buildings or prefab metal buildings are an innovative building solution featuring solid steel I-beam building construction.

* Pre-engineered steel buildings are designed and engineered by trained and certified structural metal building engineers to meet all local building codes for snow and wind load and seismic conditions.

* Steel building components are engineered and fabricated to precise specifications in a steel building factory using the highest grade commercial steel available.

* Modern steel manufacturers employ energy efficient methods in steel production that help to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

* When a steel building is demolished to make way for new construction the metal building materials don’t end up in a landfill like asphalt shingles, concrete, brick and wood. The steel is recycled instead.

* Steel can be recycled over and over again without loss of the quality of the steel.

* More steel is recycled than all other recyclable materials combined.

Cool Coatings Get Cool Energy Credit

“Cool” coatings are special siliconized polyester paints with superior reflective qualities. “Cool” coatings applied to steel buildings act as a thermal barrier to keep the insides of steel buildings cool in summer. This means that steel buildings coated with “cool” coatings use less energy, making steel buildings more energy efficient. The use of “cool” coatings for steel buildings saves money and the environment through reduced energy costs over the life of the building and can even qualify for Federal tax credits.

Urban Heat Islands: Cool Roofs Bring Relief

Savvy builders are taking advantage of the fact that metal building roofs reflect light and heat keeping buildings cooler in hot weather. Plus, metal building roofs don’t store heat and radiate it back at night like other types of roofs. This saves energy in cooling costs and helps save the environment by lessening the urban “heat island” effect. An “urban heat island” happens when urban concrete and asphalt construction absorbs heat during the day then radiates it back at night so that temperatures don’t fall at night as they normally would, and is a powerful contributor to climate change and global warming.

In places like California, Texas and Florida, commercial building construction is taking advantage of the “cool” properties of steel building metal roofs for commercial buildings such as warehouses, industrial manufacturing plants, aircraft hangars, storage buildings, retail outlet stores, auto dealerships, strip malls and more.

Metal building roofs also work to save energy and the environment in cooler climates. A painted metal roof not only reflects heat in summer, but also retains heat inside the building on cool days, saving on heating costs and keeping the indoor environment healthy and comfortable in both summer and winter. New metal building roofs qualify for Federal tax credits.

Steel Buildings: Cost Effective, Energy Efficient and Green

* Steel buildings don’t require cutting down valuable forests.

* Steel buildings are manufactured with a high proportion of recycled content.

* Steel buildings employ sustainable building design and construction and erect in less time than conventional building construction.

* Steel buildings are fire and rust resistant and steel buildings are virtually maintenance free.

* By their very nature, steel buildings are durable, cost-effective, energy efficient and Green.

OBC’s Green Builders in Bromley and the UK

Being a building and construction company in the UK, it is important for us at OBC Building in Bromley and Tunbridge Wells to stay up to date with news and innovations that concern the building industry and environment. In order to live up to our reputation as green home builders, it is important for us at our OBC builders in Tunbridge Wells and Bromley to know about current green building and environmentally friendly construction techniques that can shape the future of the home building market.



Eco-Towns: A showcase of green home building:

We are living in unprecedented times where technology and inventory ideas are concerned and the concept of creating eco-towns in the UK might at first sounded unrealistic and far-fetched. However, this new project promises to epitomise greener home building and could inspire the global construction industry along with our Bromley builders to take on a greener approach to home building.

Eco-Towns: Inspiring greener home building techniques:

To OBC Builders in Tunbridge Wells, the development of the new Eco-Towns in the UK could be of special interest. It is important for our OBC builders in Bromley to foresee what effect these Eco-Towns will have on the local construction and building industry and to adapt a similar green home building approach where possible.

The Local Government Association is in the process of allocating £60million as start-up funding for the local infrastructure of these eco-towns. With thousands of people still on the waiting list for affordable housing in the UK, the government realises the need for new settlements that offer green buildings and low-cost housing alternatives. The state of the environment has received ample international attention during the past few years and people are realising the importance of acting out their concern in a practical way. Our planet is currently facing resource depletion and a sustainable housing alternative could advance the combat against climate change while solving the current housing dilemma.

What will these Eco-towns look like?

These Eco-communities will consist of approximately 5000-15000 carbon neutral homes, developed through green building techniques. Each eco-town will have sufficient biodiversity and 40 % percent of the town’s space will be made up of green space while half the space will be allocated to the community. 30 % percent of the homes in this eco-town will be low-cost housing and the plan is to have and average of one job per house within close proximity of the eco-town itself. The objective of these Eco-towns is to combat climate change by creating a functional living space where the immediate environment will promote sustainable living through its green buildings and environmentally friendly facilities. Each town will incorporate the latest technology to ensure that these towns are carbon neutral. This unique green building project will incorporate the following:

These towns will contain all the necessary facilities such as schools, shops and healthcare centres. Each eco-town will also have a good transport infrastructure.



Eco-towns: Inspiring local builders to build greener:

The government has already initiated the first consultation phase with prospective developers of these eco-towns and the public has raised concern about whether or not these eco-towns will detract from local planning and regeneration objectives. It might be that these towns will motivate local UK developers and builders such OBC Builder in Tunbridge Wells to implement greener building techniques in order to stay ahead of the competition. These carbon neutral communities could easily increase local awareness of the environment and motivate local homeowners to seek out greener living alternatives.

As a smaller building and construction company, OBC builders in Bromley have incorporated various green building techniques into our home building approach. Not everyone will be able to relocate to one of these eco-towns and it is therefore important to implement an environmental building strategy that can easily be implemented on a commercial front, outside of these eco-towns. The biggest environmental challenges still concern our local suburbs and cities and it is therefore important that green building alternatives are promoted and implemented by local builders such OBC Building in Bromley, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.