Building with zero impact

The world is our home, so we must take great care of it. In this article we want to talk to you about green construction techniques, attentive to the ecosystem and sustainability. Have you ever heard about green building?

The term "green building" was born in Germany in the 70s and refers to a way of designing and building structures, so that they are compatible with the territory. Also known as sustainable architecture, green building or bio-architecture, it has developed in Italy since the 90s thanks to Ugo Sasso, the internationally renowned architect who founded the National Institute of Bioarchitecture in Bolzano.

What are green buildings principles? First of all, it’s based on several cardinal points: the first one is the recognition of the so-called carrying capacity of the environment. Unfortunately, as we know, the resources are not infinite! The English economist Thomas Malthus had showed it in 1798 already. He highlighted that the increase in population and the food availability grew inversely.

Not surprisingly, green building embraces the theories of Herman Daly, the father of the theories of sustainability. He argues that the use of renewable resources should not exceed their rate of regeneration, that the release of pollutants into the environment should not exceed the capacity to metabolise them and that the use of non-renewable sources should be progressively reduced and finally ended. Once again, we talk about sustainability! 

At this point, you’re probably wondering how a sustainable structure is built. The goal of sustainability is to keep the same amount of energy resources we currently own, for the future generations. With regard to construction, it consists in adapting the housing structure, combining the sustainability with the comfort and well-being of the individual; in fact, the building must not be detached from the context, but indeed it has to become an integral part of it, considering the natural elements (earth, sun, wind, water) as essential for the success of the project itself.

The evaluation of a building is based on an eco-budget: this term refers to the study of its environmental impacts in time and space. So, in order to minimize carbon dioxide emissions, builders choose renewable sources, such as biomass, electricity produced by photovoltaic panels and/or wind turbines.

Another fundamental aspect is the choice of materials. Some of the most used are the wood coming from certified forests (that is realized for this precise purpose and continuously renewed with new plants), the cellular glass, the fibers of hemp, coconut and jute. Thanks to their properties, these materials allow you to record significant savings on electricity and heating bills.

As regards the design, the approach should be as minimalist as possible. What does it mean?

Unnecessary consumption of non-essential soil and accessories, which may affect the exploitation of resources, should be avoided. Any element is well reasoned, the materials are chosen on the basis of an eco-budget and according to the principle of the short chain, i.e. by giving priority to those coming from territories more or less adjacent to the place of construction. In addition, the concept of reuse is essential, from rainwater to a second life of the building itself: for this reason bio-architecture favors the method of dry assembly, that makes the various materials easily removable and replaceable, therefore recyclable. A housing structure that meets these criteria is called "passive house" because energetically self-sufficient.

But how did we get to green building?

Well, let’s say that since the beginning of time, man has always tried to shape the environment according to his needs; we can therefore speak about a sort of architecture ante litteram, characterized at the beginning by a purely artisanal form. Over time, man has lost this attitude, to approach an increasingly technological architecture. With the massive use of fossil fuels (oil, coal, bitumen...) he caused a fracture with the environment, which get worse and worse over time. In the 1970s, when the problem of environmental protection could no longer be ignored, the first ecological ideas began to spread.

The issue of sustainability and environmental protection have now become very important for all of us. These aspects have become part of school curricula and are one of the pillars of any political agenda. In this scenario, green building is an effective way to give a proactive response to the problem of environmental impact. Families that opt for this kind of solutions are increasingly.

Even the major world events embraced the criteria of green building. For example, the new buildings for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, will be made of wood, 50% of which, coming from the French supply chain and the remaining 50% from European wood. The French Ministry of Agriculture says it, explaining that materials such as hemp and flax will be adopted as insulators. A further example is the new Juventus Stadium, which was built with the materials of the old one, suitably recycled and reused.

What can we expect in the next few years?

Will this methodology become normal in the cities of the future?

We strongly hope so, and you?