Discussion on Green Schools

Green Schools
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Green Schools
Environmental sustainability is a topic that gained quite some traction in the last few years. This is relative to the fact that there are environmental issues that have come in the recent years with respect to sustainable development (Ian Somerhalder Foundation, 2016). As such, there have been policy efforts with respect to encouraging developers to come up with projects that are environmentally responsible. Much of the development efforts in the past have did not take into consideration the fact that, they have negative impacts on the environment. As such, it is common to find that most of this projects will have poor waste disposal mechanisms, poor ventilation, air circulation and excessive energy consumption (Kriss, 2014).
There are quite a number of factors that make green buildings the right choice when it comes to sustainable development. Of the main factors is related to energy consumption, with a focus on reducing the levels of wastage by using sustainable mechanisms. Energy is one of the main costs associated with buildings, relative to the fact that, functions such as lighting, cleaning, warming and air conditioning among others are dependent on energy (Kriss, 2014). A green energy will employ renewable sources of energy such as solar power, which can be used for the outdoor lighting. Other than the solar power it is also important that there are sustainable energy use policies that are introduced in the building. This means that, the selection of the electrical fittings to be used in the building will have to be highly efficient (Buildingefficiencyinitiative.org, 2016). These include lamps, bulbs and light fixtures, which are considered to be of the highest rating with reference to energy saving properties (Luna, O'Neill, & Verchot, 2014). The lighting systems should also be coupled with motion sensors along with occupational sensors that help with the lighting mechanisms automation, ideally, these are systems that will enhance the ability to only use the lighting in any given room when there is someone using the facility. When they leave the room, the sensors will them switch off the light and other programed systems such as the heating systems or even air conditioners. The building will then be fitted with meters to monitor the power usage across the different system to establish the level of efficiency and further assist with the cost and benefit analysis reports. The user policies at the building will also have to be integrated in every aspect of the building. Some of the aspects that will fine tune the sustainable energy use practices include the use of natural light. Relative to the fact that the building have large opening for the walls, natural light will be used during the day (Luna, O'Neill, & Verchot, 2014). However, the windows will also have solar window films to make sure that there is not too much heat in the summer, which would warrant the use of the heaters in the building. Electronics such as the computers, televisions, sound systems and printers among others will also be set to us the standby modes when they are not in use (Buildingefficiencyinitiative.org, 2016). This way they will not consume as much power as they w...