Design Buy Build Issue 39 2019 | Page 114

GREEN BUILDINGS Green Building, green construction, or sustainable building is not new; it’s the practice of designing, constructing, and operating buildings to minimize resource use, reduce waste and avoid negative environmental impacts. For 25 years - and more - we've been designing, manufacturing and constructing 'Green Buildings' and components in a 'Green way. Creating buildings that deliver a positive impact on our climate and natural environment. It's in our DNA! Low Energy Buildings are what we are about. By helping reduce your energy consumption we help you reduce your energy bills, increase your property value and, if you’re a business, increases your profits and marketing potential. If you’re a homeowner it gives you more free cash to spend on the other things you’d like in life. Lifestyle Living is, therefore, one more box our buildings can tick for you. It’s also one of our aims when working with you and your professional advisors. Understanding the way you live and operate, sharing your aspirations for ‘something better’ is part of what drives us. Going Green is not a fad or a fashion. It is a way of life and an important reason for adopting an eco-friendly lifestyle, making conscious decisions about sustainability, reducing harm to our world and creating positive conditions for the environment to flourish and thrive. Green buildings conserve precious natural resources and improve our quality of life. Top Tips for Building Green Decide on your energy systems and on-site generation • Solar | Wind | Geothermal Specify your Thermal Insulation in relation to your: • Site location, building orientation and surroundings • Heating / cooling / climate systems • Preference for natural, recycled or other sustainable materials Assess the health and comfort factors Choose materials, like wood, that: • Are good natural insulators • Are easily and economically recycled • Have good ‘end of life’ value Consider prefabrication of components and building elements: • That minimise waste both off-site and on-site • For managing the site to improve the environment • With ‘lean manufacture’ to reduce energy use Benfield ATT Group, 5-6 Castle Way, Caldicot NP26 5PR | BenfieldATT.uk 114