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green design

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  • 11-11-2004 8:10pm
    #1
    O'B
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8 ✭


    what are your opinions on this issue?
    how important do you rate the subject?
    i am currently researching for my degree thesis and any contribution to this subject and your op0inions on the matter would be greatly appreciated ;)


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    #2
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,829 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Is "green design" a buzzword or is there a definiton ?

    How much of it is generated by fear of laws / changes in waste disposal regs / energy costs / morketing as a means of product differentiation and other wholely selfish reasons instead of doing it for the environment ? It seems to be now you have to pay to dispose of stuff that previous generations would have considered valuable raw materials.

    eg: paper is a lot less recyclable then it used to be, and since heavy cardboard used to have a 70% recycleable rate as far back as anyone can remember, I'd reckon we haven't changed much overall. Intersting to note that before wood pulp was used waste clothes and rags were used to make paper..


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    #3
    Gandhi
    Registered Users Posts: 976 ✭✭✭Gandhi


    By "Green Design" do you mean energy-efficient buildings, or something more general?

    One campaign going on here (Philadelphia) last year was to have people replace paved surfaces with lawns on their property, to mitigate the "heat island" effect of cities.

    A growing trend is to have rooftop lawns (lots of flat-roofed houses here) to reduce the energy required for air conditioning. Grass is super-effective at absorbing sunlight. Personally I have my roof painted silver for the same reason, though I have heard that is not as effective as you would think. Seems to work fine for me, though.

    The trouble with the grass thing is that it needs to be watered, and anywhere that heat is a problem, you also have occasional droughts, so the "Green Effect" is probably compromised because of that.

    Shade trees work very well from what I can see. In the summer they have leaves to shade houses, roads etc. and in the winter they allow the (weak) sunlight through for free heating. Of course, the roof is covered in snow for much of the winter here, but the effect is still there.

    Hopefully this is the kind of thing you were looking for.


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