Why Green Buildings Are So Relevant Today

The Planet Earth has been around for four and a half billion years, and many say that it likely to be around for a few billion more with or without humans inhabiting it. I actually believe those people, because in those four and half billion years the planet has gone through so many catastrophic changes that climate change caused by human activity just seems like a minor irritant. The planet Earth is an incredible self-correcting system. Once human activity stops, either through extinction of our species or through major changes in the way we inhabit the planet, the air will cleanse, water will recover and Earth will be renewed.

This makes the green talk of "saving the planet" fairly irrelevant because technically the planet does not need to be saved. It is the human race that needs a helping hand - and fast.

Carrying Capacity

This brings the concept of our planet's "carrying capacity" to the forefront. Carrying capacity essentially means the maximum number of people a certain environment can hold as defined by aspirations, technology, and political realities of that particular environment. Therefore, the developed countries need a larger carrying capacity per capita as compared to developing nations, simply because aspirations and perceptions are dictated by economic prosperity.

Let's leave aside the various disparities in the human existence just for the moment. When one looks at the planet as a whole, most prudent people will strongly suspect that the carrying capacity of our environment has already been transgressed. If you doubt this, ask yourselves the following questions:

• Are natural amenities such as wilderness and quiet countryside now increasing?
• Is the threat to endangered species a figment of our imagination?
• Is the cost of controlling pollution and climate change decreasing?
• Does inflation show signs of disappearing?
• Can we forget about unemployment?
• And most importantly: does our political system allow for quick solutions to the aforementioned problems?

The answer to all the above questions is an overwhelming NO. Most of the developing world has a large population. When a large population existing on a minimal standard of living transgresses the carrying capacity of its environment, the population and the standard of living only go down, most likely getting to the point of "survival of the wealthiest".

All this talk of going green is essentially to push forward that point in time when we reach the maximum carrying capacity of our environment and/or increase the carrying capacity of the planet itself. Until one of those things happens, it is only common sense to insulate ourselves from the resource crunch and strive towards self sufficiency.

That is why green buildings are so relevant today. Green building are about self sufficiency, resource efficiency and reasonably sustainable smart living. Green buildings are also about resilient design, which is the ability to survive in non-ideal conditions unaffected by events beyond our control. Green buildings are not so much about the planet or the environment, they are about us. The planet and environment are just minor beneficiaries in our quest to do more with less.

The Lowest Hanging Fruit

Green buildings are the lowest hanging fruit in the human pursuit for sustainable and equitable development. Green buildings are fairly easy to design and construct. They don't cost much more than conventional building. Plus, they often provide occupants a sense of well being, which is the primary purpose of any building.

At the same time, it is the need of the hour. The developing world especially needs green building, because the sector contributes significantly to GDP and is a huge employment generator. Buildings are big energy and water consumers and used water and waste generators, and developing countries have especially limited resources. Plus, since half of the developing and the under developed world is yet to be built, we must build using high performance design, or we will lock in this inefficiency for the next century.

The best time to build a green building was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.