Sustainable Construction Diss_6
moore05
DiscussionResponsesWeek6.docxT H
Do you think that sustainable development is taking a shape of social movement now? Do you see more acceptability and implementation?
On the one hand, I would say "yes" due to the emphasis on climate change. But, when I look at many of the "social movements" happening today, there doesn't seem to be much action. There might be a public gathering, a protest, or an editorial, but I'm not sure how much action that I see behind the words. From a construction perspective, the industry is slow to change. There is certainly more acceptability, but there doesn't seem to be a wholesale movement towards making sustainable building the norm. Tract home builders seem to still be building cookie cutter houses, and not taking advantage of any passive measures. Sure, they'll throw in LED lights and a tankless water heater, and spray foam insulation (although, they often don't worry about the detrimental indoor air quality that sometimes results from the spray foam off gassing or the need to bring in outdoor fresh air due to the tightness of the space). But, have they really bought in to the movement? To the need to preserve resources? To the need to be sustainable? Or, are the just taking advantage of the latest trends to make more money? I guess time will tell.
Discuss about the possible barriers for green innovative ideas/technologies?
"We've always done it that way" is probably one of the biggest barriers. I'm a firm believer in utilizing tried and true methods, but I also realize that "there's always a better way." Better has many connotations. To some, better means faster. To others, better means that they'll make more money. To me, better means a balance between durable, cost effective, efficient, and sustainable.Sometimes high cost is a barrier to technology. We need to get the industry behind green innovation so that products will become more widespread, and ultimately the cost will come down. We need to educate our customers about green innovation. We need to help them understand the true cost of owning a home. If I have to spend an extra $10K up front for green technology and features, and in so doing have an electric bill of next to nothing for the life of my home, I've made a great investment AND saved money and energy. I really do believe that more education on green/sustainable building can help to break down barriers.
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J C
Do you think that sustainable development is taking a shape of social movement now? Do you see more acceptability and implementation?
Answer: I feel that sustainable development is more talking than doing. There are many advertisements, articles, podcast, etc. that talk about how we are killing our environment and a change must be done now. But the switch to Green building and LEED certified buildings is slow to react on all this. Many are not educated completely and still have the mindset that building Green is very expensive. We must make this change in order to save our environment for future generations. I feel acceptability and implementation over the years for sustainability will still take on the slow progression. The switch completely will not happen until it is too late and there will be no reversal for what we have done from trying to make a quick profit on our building.
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Discuss about the possible barriers for green innovative ideas/technologies?
Answer: Some barriers for green innovative ideas/ technologies are:
The high cost of implementation
The fear of performance over time
High maintenance cost
Education
Many believe that it will cost tens of thousands of dollars to have a green building. Many also think that if they do implement this energy efficient design that their saving benefits will be nothing as advertised. The fear of high maintenance cost and performance issues scares many as this is not the standard in building. Finally, education needs to focus on the fact that building green needs to be the way of the future in order to save our environment. In the construction industry there are many people that have the mindset of “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” It is going to be hard to get the majority on board but this transition needs to be done.
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1. Do you think that sustainable development is taking a shape of social movement now? Do you see more acceptability and implementation?
Yes, I think the concept of Sustainable Development is already beginning to be implemented with social movements, but it is a process that in my opinion will take a long time to gain strength, first, due to the lack of information and knowledge of People, including professionals in the area (Architects, Engineers, Developers, contractors, etc.) still have the idea that building in a sustainable way increases costs considerably when in reality it is not, today there are different technologies that allow us to build with a budget similar or even lower than a traditional construction. The idea of incorporating Sustainable Development into social movements seems to me to be very important because in this way we not only help to conserve the environment but also low-income users will benefit due to the decrease in maintenance costs of the properties. It is important to teach the different options that are available to achieve sustainable projects at low cost to make them more widely accepted and people feel more motivated to continue this path.
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2. Discuss about the possible barriers for green innovative ideas/technologies?
As I mention on the previous response, I think the biggest problem is the lack of information related to the new technologies and the costs related, also for most of the people is more convenient to keep building on a traditional way instead of explore new options, but with the change on the regulations and building codes I think people is going to have to star finding new ways to meet the minimum standards without increasing the budget of the projects.
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C Q
Do you think that sustainable development is taking a shape of social movement now? Do you see more acceptability and implementation?
I think that people are becoming more aware of caring for the environment because the effects of climate change are more evident and we have the solution in our hands to help stop the planet from declining and all of this makes it a necessity to implement sustainability and that is why people are more in agreement with the implementation of the sustainability.
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Discuss about the possible barriers for green innovative ideas/technologies?
I think the biggest barrier if the sustainability is the economical level of each country, we are talking about implementing the LEED rating system that are above the minimum code requirements and in other countries the Codes are not mandatories or they are in the process of implementing them, so in other terms the biggest barrier is the money.
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