www.homes4india.com: INTERIOR LANDSCAPE TO KEEP YOUR MIND FRESH

www.homes4india.com: INTERIOR LANDSCAPE TO KEEP YOUR MIND FRESH: "INTERIOR LANDSCAPE TO KEEP YOUR MIND FRESH The art of designing, arranging, caring and maintaining the natural beauty of live plants in in..."

Switch to green while building your homes

‘Green Architecture’ is a form of environmentally sensitive design and construction. Energy-saving, sustainable development and natural materials are all hallmarks of this form of construction. Green Architecture is also sensitive to the impact of the construction on the environment in the years and decades after the construction is complete. It explores a relationship between architecture and ecology.

One of the key points to green architecture is to create synchrony with the surrounding environment. Everything about a green building should easily transition from the natural landscape, including the building materials. The best material to use for green construction is materials that have been recycled or come from easily restored resources.

Advantages of Green Architecture:

1. Optimizes the use of resources, especially energy and water. At the design and construction stage, it incorporates resource recycling during construction, and later when the building is being used.

2. It causes minimal impact on the environment during the entire building life cycle of siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance and removal.

3. Where possible, the natural topography is used to optimize energy usage.

4. It leads to reduced operating costs by optimizing resource usage. Green Architecture focuses on recycling resources – especially water. Wherever possible, it focuses on using building materials from the building site itself. Well-insulated doors, windows and walls reduce energy usage and loss.

5. Green Architecture promotes improved health of the occupants of the building, due to better natural air circulation and use of natural light.

6. Provides onsite facilities for recycling, thereby minimizing waste being sent to landfills.

Materials Commonly Used in Green Architecture

1. Recycled materials such as wood, tiles and bricks that are available at the building site or in/near the surrounding area.

2. Where new materials are used, the focus is on material that can be rapidly replenished, such as bamboo, which can be harvested for commercial use in just 6 years.

3. Insulation made from low volatile organic compounds that use materials such as recycled denim as opposed to fiberglass insulation – which has long-term adverse effects. Insulation may be treated with boric acid to retard insect damage. Organic or milk-based paints also afford protection.

4. Solar energy is an abundant resource that is used through passive solar, active solar and photovoltaic techniques.

5. Packed gravel in parking lots and driveways instead of concrete reduces rainwater run-off and replenishes ground water resources.

Why Not Thinking for Green Plans

Designing the thousands of home plans. What I can’t figure out is why they aren’t different today than they were 20-years ago. Where’s the green? If green is so great, why people not demanding the green

I’m not seeing it, and there’s a lot of ambiguity in the industry as to who is responsible for making projects green. Is it builders?  Engineers? Owners? Architects?

Here’s how I see it: Builders build from plans produced by architects. Engineers add their input to the architect’s plan. But engineers do not draw house plans . If builders are to build green, they need a set of plans that tells them how, and in my way of thinking, that falls primarily to the architect or any one who design the conceptual plan of building.

But is it right to place the entire green movement on the shoulders of Designers? Of course not. However, I believe they must lead the charge, and designer in my neck of the woods have not taken that lead.

The reason for this lies in simple economics: It doesn’t pay. To draw a green framing plan, for example, an architect has to:

• Learn green framing. This involves not only the framing techniques themselves but also the underlying structural concepts of green building.
• Learn the latest version of the building code, which will also require the architect to know the wood code, steel code, masonry code, and concrete code, as they pertain to green. We’re talking significant time in learning and also money in purchasing those codes.
• Draw new standard details. Getting an architect to draw one standard detail can be like force-feeding a colicky baby, due to how time-consuming and tedius it is. To really go green an architect would need to draw an entire new sheet of them.

Those of us who are not architects should be asking how we can help.

I’ve tried to green-up plans, but my suggestions have largely fallen on deaf ears. Architects aren’t paid more for a green set of plans than for a non-green set. And it takes all the aforementioned effort to make the conversion. Most owners don’t know enough to insist on green framing, so they don’t make it a requirement.

Can Owner insist on green plans? I think so. A Owner or developer should ask their architect for a statement of qualifications, with particular emphasis on green expertise and experience. If not up to snuff, find another architect. If the architect is in-house, get him or her trained. Sooner or later we will all have to bite the green bullet. Those of us who do it sooner will be ahead of the game.

Some construction elements i.e.structural designs, should be handled by engineers. Owner and architects who hire engineers must insist on progressive, green-thinking engineers. 

The construction industry’s old, wasteful ways, like the rotary telephone, are done. Here’s a calling to all architects to wield that fork and insert deeply. With some firm nudging from the rest of us, it can happen

INTERIOR LANDSCAPE TO KEEP YOUR MIND FRESH

INTERIOR LANDSCAPE TO KEEP YOUR MIND FRESH

 The art of designing, arranging, caring and maintaining the natural beauty of live plants in indoor areas is well-known as plantscaping and interiorscaping. It is not only confined with putting of plants into your area or premises as it composes of living art that accentuates one's place and gives it a unique identity. No matter what size your house or office is, interior landscaping adds a real monetary value to your property. This makes your area a better place to relax and enjoy nature as it grows around you.

Apart from growing beautiful plants, interior landscaping also constitutes of indoor environment i.e. plains, angles, and horizons that are softened, accentuated or altered by the addition of plants and planters. The secret of a great looking landscaping is consistent care. The interiorscaping must be followed with the proper space, containers, color, sculptural elements, focal points, and environment.

·         Space: Depending upon the total dimensions of your indoor space, you must choose plants and flowers accordingly. The bigger space needs more landscaping and vice-versa.

·         Containers: The shape and size of a container also plays a vital role in interior landscape designing. High-tech fiberglass and metallic containers for instance enhance a contemporary look.

·         Environment: An interior landscape designer must consider environmental factors when incorporating plants like sufficient light, supply of water, drainage, and proper air circulation. Light is important aspect in choosing plants for an indoor environment as some plants grow well in low light, light, medium light, high light, and very high light, which all refers to the plant's light requirements in order to thrive indoors. Therefore, it must be properly balanced and harmonized.

·         Plants: You can select plants on the basis of seasonal, annual or common flower. 
Lastly, interiorscaping is very helpful in purifying the air, increases the workers productivity, reduces stress, and makes the environment pleasing and soothing. There has been a wide selection of plants from desert of tropical origins to become suitable interior landscaping plants.