Today's blog is on the green components of a building. GE3S provides leed green associate exam preparation course and makes its trainees aware about these green components

Electrical components:

• The electrical components in green buildings use energy saving in heating, ventilation and air conditioners (HVACs).

• The energy conservation components of green building design are optimum use of natural light, use of energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) or light emitting diode (LED).

• The generation techniques include the use of solar lighting, solar wind hybrid in green buildings.

• The integration of active and passive solar designs for harnessing solar energy is also used. In addition to leed green associate exam training GE3S also provides solar modelling training.

Special Systems/Techniques

The techniques such as

• Water saving solutions

• Management of grey water

• Rainwater harvesting (RWH)

• Use of porous pavements blocks

• Passive solar design

• High-performance glass windows and architecture

• Composting units are applied in green building construction. LEED Green Associate Exam syllabus is spread across all these techniques.

Scope of green building:

In India, you can see that in India major part of the energy is used for cooking. While in USA that energy is mainly used for space heating, lighting, and appliances. The difference in this energy consumption is very clear in developed and developing countries.  They show the difference the developing countries mostly the energy consumption is for cooking while in the USA like developed countries the energy used is mainly for space heating, lighting other appliances. The home size of UAE is also higher than in India. India it is around 40 m. sq while in USA ut has an average of 200 m. sq. The average annual change in buildings energy consumption in India is 2.7 percent per year from 2015-20140 (IEO,2017). The global consumption of electricity in buildings is growing at a rate of 2.5 percent per year. In non-OECD countries, electricity usage is increased by nearly 6 percent. In order to build a successful career in green buildings, an individual must pass the leed green associate exam.

Scope of Green Buildings-

Reduce carbon dioxide emissions:

More than 40% CO2 emissions in developed countries come from heating, cooling and powering buildings.

The good insulation, window glazing and recovering heat from ventilation systems are efficient ways to reduce emissions.

Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings

• The energy efficiency in the building is the sum total of energy efficiencies of each component of it especially HVACs and other electronic appliances.

• According to an IEA report, the annual production of CO2 from lighting is 1.9 GT (Tomlinson, 2009).

• LED lighting and smart-control are more efficient than traditional lighting technologies. Energy efficiency in buildings is a critical element of LEED green associate exam.

What are the benefits of green buildings?

The advantages of green buildings are grouped into three categories:

• Environmental benefits

• Economic benefits

• Social benefits

What are the environmental benefits of green building?

• It improves air quality.

       The CO2 emissions from green buildings are comparatively lesser than the conventional buildings.

• It aimed at water conservation and improves water quality.

• It helps in effective waste management

• Reduces energy consumption and thereby saves energy resources.

• It also helps to restore the degraded natural resources

• These buildings conserve biodiversity and protect the ecosystem. The green buildings prevent habitat destruction for energy production and pollution from fossil fuel combustion that threatens biodiversity.  Carbon footprint is also an aspect that an individual must know about when preparing for the LEED green associate exam.

What are the economic benefits of green buildings? 

• Cost-effectiveness in the long term

• It reduces electricity consumption and so the charges to be paid (bills)

• The operational cost in the buildings is comparatively less

• It helps in optimization of life-cycle economic performance

• It improves the productivity of the occupants live in the building

• The water consumption gets reduced and wastewater generation and treatment also gets reduced.

What are the social benefits of green buildings?   

• Increase in aesthetic value

• Indoor air quality gets increased

• The high comfort of the occupant in the buildings

• Improves the occupant health

• It improves overall life quality

• Enhance occupant health and comfort

• The infrastructure used gets reduced and so the pressure on it

• The residential or commercial building with greatly reduced energy needs through efficiency gains such that the balance of energy needs can be supplied with renewable technologies are known as net-zero-energy building (ZEB).

Energy loss in any industrial process or building is inevitable; it is a foregone conclusion. However, its economic and environmental impacts are not to be taken lightly, thus explaining the growing need for energy efficiency. Put simply, the level of energy efficiency a plant or building can achieve is inversely proportionate to the energy loss that occurs; the higher the loss, the lower the efficiency. GE3S Energy Auditors identify opportunities to reduce the energy use of a building or industries. LEED GA and LEED AP professionals are well versed with energy optimization strategies in buildings.

Energy Audit is a regular examination of an energy system to ensure that energy is being used as efficient as possible. Depending on the level of detail on the collected information, energy audits might be distinguished into two types, the walkthrough, and the extended audits.  GE3S is a trusted name in the Middle East for providing Energy Auditor Services. We are pioneering Energy Auditor Services Company in the Middle East and Asia, and also provide LEED GA and LEED AP training services.

The energy shall start with site survey in order to obtain information on present energy used. The major energy utilization such as running hours of air-conditioning, lighting levels, locations of unnecessary air-conditioning and lighting due to unoccupied areas, temperature and humidity, chillers/pump scheduling and setting, efficiencies of equipment’s and machine and the energy hot spots and the chances of reduce consumption shall be listed down for further analysis. The LEED GA and LEED AP professionals trained by us are provided with the basic understanding of Energy audits.

Walk-through energy audits assess site energy consumption and relevant costs based on energy bills-invoices and a short on-site autopsy. Minimum capital investment or no investment energy saving options of immediate energy cost savings are determined and a list of other energy saving opportunities involving considerable capital are proposed on a cost benefit basis.  As a leading Energy Auditor, GE3S have helped several clients in reducing their Energy Costs. Walk through energy audit is one of the basic requirements of LEED Existing building certification and as a LEED AP and LEED GA our team is aware of all the requirements related to energy audits.

Detailed diagnostic energy audits require a more detailed recording and analysis of energy and other site data. The energy consumption is disaggregated in different end-uses (e.g. heating, cooling, different processes, lighting, etc.) and the different factors that affect that end-use are presented and analyzed. The overall cost and benefits for the energy-saving opportunities that meet the criteria and requirements of the end-energy use are determined. A potential list of energy investments having greater costs requires more detailed data acquisition and processing.  GE3S Energy Auditors identify opportunities to reduce the energy use of a building or industries. Our LEED GA and LEED AP professionals have undertaken several energy audits in the region.

Why do we need GRIHA rating system in India?

The agenda of GRIHA is like this. Any building is going to consume lots of resources in the form of energy, water, materials, and even human resource. Professionals who are LEED Green Associate tend to optimize resource consumption during design construction and operation of the buildings. Normally we do not include human resources because it also means a way of making people get some kind of narration or livelihood. So human resource is normally not considered. But when we consider the consumption of resources like energy, water, or material. we have to be very prudent considering that these three things can global warmings. Also, we emit waste directly in the form of municipal solid waste or liquid waste as well as the emission of green gases. So the agenda of GRIHA is to reduce or minimize building resource consumption minimize waste generation and overall ecological impact to within nationally acceptable limits or benchmark. The primary objective of the rating system is to help design green buildings and in turn help evaluate the greenness of the buildings. LEED Green Associate qualified professionals can certainly help in meeting the above-mentioned objectives. Therefore there is a need of more and more LEED Green Associate professionals in the real estate and construction industry.

How does GRIHA do certification for greenness?                             

GRIHA provides building ratings on the basis of stars. LEED Green Associate professionals have been providing their expert advice in India to develop buildings in accordance with GRIHA guidelines. If the buildings scores between 50-60 points on the GRIHA rating system then it gets 1 star. If a building gets 61-70 points then it gets 2 star. If it gets 71-80 points then it gets 3 star. Buildings securing 81-90 points then it gets 4 star and 91-100 points then it gets 5 star. This means a building which is 5 star is the greenest building as compare to other buildings compare to 1 star, 2 star is a much greener building. The scores entirely depend on the green building strategies that have been chosen and incorporated into the building design. Higher the score means more inclusion of green building strategies which means its even better for the environment as well as building occupants. In order to optimize the GRIHA score and the building cost the developers have been taking services of LEED Green Associate professionals.

At GE3S we believe that green buildings are the need of the hour and more and more professionals should take up LEED Green Associate certification to enhance their understanding of green building strategies.

As a segment of sustainable and green building design. Today we will be discussing about GRIHA. GRIHA means green rating for integrated habitat assessment. It is a similar rating like LEED, GE3S provides training on GRIHA guidelines as well as for LEED Green Associate Exam. Now there are various rating systems for rating building as green depending upon different criteria they choose. For eg:  UK follows BREEAM which is building research establishment in the environmental assessment method, Japan follows CASBEE, and Australia follows Green Star and Germany has a passive voice. Some of the European countries also follow passive voice. In this context, India also needs a rating system of its own and that is what GRIHA Council. GRIHA means green rating for integrated habitat assessment. There is also LEED INDIA which can be used as a Green building rating system in the Indian context. But today we will be looking at GRIHA and its silent features. GE3S is a leading LEED Green Associate Exam training provider in the region.

GRIHA has been developed by TERI the energy research institute New Delhi and developed jointly with the ministry of new and renewable energy government of India. We provide training on both GRIHA as well as for LEED Green Associate Exam.  It is a green building design evaluation system which means based on its evaluating system we can assist building for its greenness or sustainability and it is important understand that is suitable for all kinds of building residential to industrial and for the various climate zones of a country. The organization of green rating system by GRIHA has the following things to be considered. first is site planning, building envelope design which means how the outer part of the building is designed, building system design means the service for the building like HVAC system, lighting, electrical and water heating, Integrated of renewable energy sources to generate energy onsite, water and waste management, selection of ecologically sustainable materials with high recycled content is better material as compared to new material, Indoor environmental quality it maintains the indoor thermal as well as air quality inside which is called  as Indoor air quality (IAQ). Several of these green strategies are taught in our LEED Green Associate Exam training course.

If you are looking for a green building consultant or a LEED Green Associate Training Provider then GE3S is your right choice. We have a team of trainers who are proficient in English and Arabic and have several years of training experience for LEED Green Associate Exams. Reach out to us in case of any consultancy or training needs.

LEED or Leadership in Environmental design is a third-party green building rating system developed by USGBC and GBCI. USGBC stands for United State Green Building Council and the GBCI stands for Green Building Certification Institute. The GBCI also provides professional credentials like LEED GA and LEED AP. The LEED rating system has 5 types of guidelines the first one is called the LEED BD+C, the next is LEED ID+C followed by LEED Homes, EED BD, and LEED O+M. LEED BD+C is for design and construction. LEED ID+C is for interior design and construction. LEED homes are for small buildings/homes. LEED-ND is for neighborhood development. LEED O+M is for operation and maintenance of buildings. For all these types USGBC issues specialty LEED AP credential. LEED GA  is a prerequisite for obtaining LEED AP credential.

The LEED guideline has seven categories starting with Sustainable sites, that have 1 prerequisite and 8 credits, then comes the water efficiency which has 1 prerequisite and 3 credits, followed by Energy and atmosphere, then material and resources then Indoor environmental quality, next is innovation and the last is regional priorities. Becoming a LEED GA or LLEED AP requires understanding of all these categories and the credits and prerequisites that are covered in these categories. The rating system has four certification levels. You get your building certified with 40 to 49 points, followed by silver rating for 50 to 59, then comes the gold rating for 60 to 79 and the last is platinum rating that is achieved on securing 80 + points under the LEED system. GE3S provides training for LEED GA and LEED AP for students as well as professionals throughout the year.

We have a LEED faculty onboard with us who provides guidance to our trainees and students on how to clear the exams in the first attempt. We have developed study material specially for both LEED and LEED AP exams. These study materials are provided to our students. Students are also provided with 21 hours of contact cases where all the requirements and the concepts are taught. Thereafter the students are provided with three mock exams that simulate the leed AP and LEED GA exam condition and question. This gets you ready for the exam and makes you accustomed to what would you expect in such exam. Our next batch is scheduled start in the month of July and this is a golden time for all the aspirants who want to clear either LEED GA or LEED AP or both. Please contact us to get more info on our courses.