If you had asked someone a decade ago, "Can you imagine living in a
green building?" the answer would probably have been, "You mean my
house painted green? Nah, it's not really one of my favorite colors . .
."
Unfortunately it's impossible to think of an equally
ambiguous question in German to compare public awareness of ecological
concepts with that of Austria ten years ago. "Oekohaus" might just be
mistaken for the house of a person with a particular "political
agenda." Perhaps if you asked people what they think of
"Nachhaltigkeit" in Austria or "sustainability" in the US, some might
be at a loss. However, if you asked if they would like to live in a
"Low-Energy House" the results would be quite different from ten years
ago.
This ambiguity forces us to consider the multitude of
meanings bundled under the wide umbrella of "Green Building." Energy
efficiency is often considered a significant part of sustainable
building concepts - indisputably important, but not the only indicator
of an ecologically valuable building. In Europe, people tend to point
their fingers across the Atlantic when discussing energy efficiency and
squandering resources. European houses in general are more efficient in
terms of energy used for heating and cooling. However, this is more an
economic than an ecologically-driven development. Energy is more
expensive for European consumers, so it makes sense to invest in more
efficiency. When it comes to sustainability this competitive edge can
quickly diminish. Here we have to look at the life cycle costs of
materials we use to achieve this goal - for example, the embedded
energy needed for production and demolition of extruded foam insulation
panels.
With that in mind, I want to discuss the idea of Green Buildings against the background of academic education, public incentives, mass production, and the general public awareness of sustainability for buildings.
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