HOW SUSTAINABLE IS BUILDING INNOVATION OR THE “NEW BUILDING” YOU WANT TO PUT UP? ARE YOU EVEN THINKING SUSTAINABILITY? - GREEN? - EARTH FRIENDLY? ENERGY EFFICIENT?
IF NOT — MAYBE YOU SHOULD. AS IN WHAT ARE WE GOING TO LEAVE BEHIND FOR OUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN?
AND IF YOU ARE … YOU MIGHT WANT TO THINK OF SUSTAINABILITY IN LONGER TERM EFFECTS AS WELL…
Because, if you really think about - allot of the things we call GREEN - SUSTAINABLE - EARTH FRIENDLY… are only such for the SHORT TERM. Oh sure, their performance can have long term affects - and that is important too! But what happens when they wear out? When their performance is no longer “good enough”??? Then what? Ever think of that?
Often times - the so called Green Products we use eventually “die” and then what? Are they able to be recirculated? Recycled? Re-used? Re-stored? Revamped? Allot of time - the answer is NO! They end up in trash dumps, land fills - or worse, hidden or pushed aside to become clutter or POLLUTION in one form or another… Do we ever think of “life after death” for “things”??
The sustainability of any “product” is actually linked to the sustainability of its outcomes and to what happens after it is no longer usable! Sustainable products - or in this case “BUILDINGS” must be cognizant of how they are packaged together - for efficiency, compatibility, use and then post use… considering the energy and resources they use to construct and maintain, the wastes they produce and then how they will be disposed of. One would be surprised how much of our “products” end up in landfills because there is just nothing else that can be sustainably done with them!!! Ever think about that?
We must be sustainably innovative, not only with product performance - but with the product ITSELF! Instead of simply focusing on “energy use/consumption/saving”, true sustainable construction must view and evaluate the total package… from supply, through installation, through use/maintenance, to life cycle end use/disposal. If we don’t do that - the loop of waste does not close to ZERO and we just defer the potential problems to another generation…
Using steel where steel is needed (in super structure) - adds to a longer shelf life of your building just for starters. And when the time is up - you can take all the steel and RECYCLE it all! Of course going totally ALL -STEEL has it’s drawbacks - including being limited to shell/envelope materials… so by using a stand alone designed framework like that offered by PERKA BUILDING FRAMES, designed for easy assembly and finish friendly, you can then add on ANY other green, truly sustainable materials that are not only closed loop but ALSO appealing to look at and comfortable to work, play and live in.
After all - how we HUMANS feel as we LIVE out our LIVES - is as much about sustainable innovation as anything else. If we are happy, high spirited and filled with GOOD feelings, we not only live happier, better - but we will die happier, better too…. and leaving a healthy body, still filled with sustainable vital organs, could be the greatest gift of a closed loop system we could offer to our children’s children… don’t you think?
How’s that for closing a loop on building sustainably!!??
Let’s BUILD for CHANGE!
Cheers
"Alone we may travel quicker, but together we travel further"... author unknown
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