Building science is the study of how buildings function under various environmental conditions. Buil

1
What is Building Science?

• Building science is the study of how buildings
  function under various environmental conditions.
  Building scientists study how heat is generated
  or lost in a house and how to make houses more
  comfortable and healthy.
• Source www.healthyindoorair.org - a partnership
  program of the U.S. Environmental Protection
  Agency Indoor Environments Division, Montana
  State University Extension Service, Housing
  Program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
  Cooperative State Research, Education, and
  Extension Service.

2
What Is Indoor Air Quality?

• Indoor Air Quality is listed by the Environmental
  Protection Agency (EPA) as a top environmental
  threat. The major cause of indoor air pollution
  are the particles released into the air that come
  from a variety of sources. The key factors to
  "healthy air" is it must be clean, fresh and have
  the proper relative humidity.
• Our environments fresh air is constantly mixed
  with pollution. We are exposed on a daily basis
  to organic chemicals found in the ingredients of
  common household products also known as volatile
  organic compounds. These toxins build up in our
  environment to unhealthy levels that stay in the
  air long after the activity is completed. Many
  building products and furnishings in our
  interiors "off-gas" harmful toxins over a long
  period of time.
• HOW DOES INDOOR AIR QUALITY DETERIORATE?
• If one or more of your office or home ventilation
  processes is inadequate, due to poor building
  design, inappropriate occupant activities, or
  improper maintenance or operation, the quality of
  indoor air may deteriorate. When that happens,
  occupants may suffer from Sick Building Syndrome
  (SBS) or Building Related Illness (BRI).
• Source www.healthylivingfoundation.org and
  www.epa.gov/iaq

3
What Is Green Building?

• Green building practices offer an opportunity to
  create environmentally sound
• and resource-efficient buildings by using an
  integrated approach to design.
• THE INTENT OF GREEN BUILDING PROGRAMS IS TO
• promote resource conservation, including energy
  efficiency, renewable energy and water
  conservation features
• incorporate environmental impacts and waste
  minimization
• create a healthful and comfortable environment
  
• reduce operation and maintenance costs and
• address issues such as historic preservation,
  access to public transportation, and other
  community infrastructure systems.
• The entire life cycle of the building and its
  components is considered as well as
• the economic and environmental impact and
  performance.
• Source U.S. Department of Energy Resources
• U.S. Department of Energy, Smart Communities
  Network, www.sustainable.doe.gov
• U.S. Green Building Council, www.usgbc.org
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
  www.epa.gov/greenbuilding
• Austin Green Building Program, www.ci.austin.tx.us
  /greenbuilder (An Internet search will take you
  to other green building programs around the
  country)

4
What is LEED?

• LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
  Design), a rating system for new and existing
  commercial, institutional, and high-rise
  residential buildings, designed by the US Green
  Building Council using an extensive peer review
  process.
• Four levels of green building certification are
  awarded based on the total credits earned in each
  of five categories Sustainable Sites, Water
  Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and
  Resources, and Indoor Environmental Quality.
• Source www.usgbc.org

5
What is Natural Building?

• Natural building is any building system which
  places the highest value on social and
  environmental sustainability. It assumes the need
  to minimize the environmental impact of our
  housing and other building needs while providing
  healthy, beautiful, comfortable and
  spiritually-uplifting homes for everyone.
• Natural builders emphasize simple, easy-to-learn
  techniques based on locally-available, renewable
  resources. These systems rely heavily on human
  labor and creativity instead of on capital, high
  technology and specialized skills.
• Source Michael G. Smith, leader in the cob and
  natural building community
• Resources
• www.thelaststraw.org (strawbale)
• www.econest.com (light straw/clay)
• www.cobcottage.com (cob)
• www.livingpaper.com (papercrete)
• www.ecocomposite.com (fiber and two other
  materials)

6
What is Sustainability?

• Websters definition
• 1 capable of being sustained, 2 a of,
  relating to, or being a method of harvesting or
• using a resource so that the resource is not
  depleted or permanently damaged
• ltsustainable techniquesgt ltsustainable
  agriculturegt b of or relating to a lifestyle
• involving the use of sustainable methods
  ltsustainable societygt
• Sustainability in our day-to-day lives means
  reducing our consumption sensible quantities,
  good quality and healthy choices recycling and
  reuse of everything possible less use of all
  chemicals in all forms and uses as well as
  gas-and-oil-based products, converting to
  ag-based and natural products. It means getting
  off the grid and converting to solar and wind
  energy, using rainwater catchment and grey water
  methods to conserve this precious resource, and
  turning to permaculture approaches and xeriscape
  plantings in our surroundings.
• It means using what we have at hand as basic
  materials for building as the prairie pioneers
  and many others did long ago. It means approaches
  for farming that are sustainable and natural
  rather than overuse of the land, chemical
  fertilization, weed control and pesticides, and
  irrigation levels that deplete the available
  resources improved methods of forestry
  (coppicing, for example), less high energy use
  manufacturing and a movement toward small cottage
  industries creating products from local resources
  distributed to regional outlets control of
  packagingone of the highest sources of waste.

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• Sustainability requires lifestyle changes. There
  is an element of drawing from the past to study
  what worked and what didnt or wont. Accepting
  the existence of an industrialized world while
  attempting to apply agrarian and pre-industrial
  ways to manufacturing needed goods and products.
  And accepting that we probably will not see a
  sustainable society in our lifetime yet
  dedicating ourselves to moving in that direction.
  

8
What is Appropriate Technology?

• To be appropriate, technology must be connected
  to the place, resources, economics, culture and
  impacts of its use.
• Source Development Center for Appropriate
  Technologies, Tucson, Arizona, USA
• Appropriate technology is small-scale
  technology. It is simple enough that people can
  manage it directly and on a local level.
  Appropriate technology makes use of skills and
  technology that are available in a local
  community to supply basic human needs, such as
  gas and electricity, water, food, and waste
  disposal.
• Source http//lsa.colorado.edu/essence/texts/appr
  opriate.htm

9

• Appropriate technology is decentralized.
• Today, many of our basic needs are handled by
  huge, complex
• systems. These systems are managed centrally by
  large private
• corporations or the government. A simpler
  technology tends to be more
• reliable, and the effects of breakdowns do not
  disrupt as many lives.
• Technologically sophisticated, though simple in
  design.
• It is important to realize that use of
  appropriate technology does not
• mean turning the clock back to the 18th or 19th
  century. Although the
• technology involves simple, easy-to use and
  repair designs, it is based
• on sophisticated, 20th-century technologies. One
  example is the
• invention of photovoltaic or solar cells that
  convert solar energy, a
• renewable energy source, into electricity.

10

• Environmentally friendly.
• Appropriate technology emphasizes the use of
  renewable resources,
• like the energy from the sun, wind, or water.
  These energy sources
• are available almost everywhere and need only the
  right technology to
• capture them. Unlike burning coal and oil, these
  local energy sources
• do not contribute to air and water pollution and
  they do not need
• to be transported over long distances. Food,
  energy, water, and
• waste disposal are also handled locally by
  ecological systems. These
• are systems that conserve resources by recycling
  organic nutrients
• back into the soil and reusing manufactured goods
  in innovative ways.
• Appropriate technology makes it possible to
  satisfy our
• basic human needs while minimizing our impact on
  the
• environment.

11

• Social problems.
• Many people are beginning to realize that neither
  our economy nor our
• population can continue to grow forever. We are
  running out of the
• Natural resources necessary to sustain ourselves.
  In addition we are
• limited in our ability to deal with the social
  and environmental problems
• that result from continuous growth. There seems
  to be a growing
• dissatisfaction with the complexity and hectic
  lifestyle of 20th-century society.
• Many people would prefer to return to a simpler
  way of life.
• Appropriate technology is attractive because it
  makes households and
• industries more self-sufficient, and most things
  can be managed at a
• local level. We may have to do more hand labor
  instead of depending
• on automation to satisfy our basic needs.
  However, there are many
• advantages to simplifying our lives. By growing
  more of our own food
• and producing and buying goods in our own
  communities, we spend
• less time and money on transportation, produce
  less waste and
• consume fewer environmental resources.