What is a green factory?
A factory or a building that creates a positive impact on the environment and eliminates or reduces the negative impacts is a green factory. The design, the construction, the equipment and even the operations all contribute to making it green, Therefore, this means that a factory can be designed green from the conceptual stage itself. A factory architect who understands the green design concept will be able to incorporate them.
The environment is getting increasingly polluted and the earth hotter day by day. Therefore, it is necessary to take steps that not only bring down pollution but also improve the environment. Essentially, this means using renewable resources and reducing the dependency on fossil fuels. Hence, it becomes the responsibility of the design consultant to design the factory to use environmentally friendly design.
There are a few features that make a building green. Some of them are as follows:
- Efficient use of water, energy, and other resources
- Minimal use of fossil fuel
- Use of solar or other renewable energy
- The building uses methods to reduce pollution
- The waste reduction process is in place
- Reuse and recycling
- Indoor environmental quality is good
- The materials used are non-toxic
- The building has been constructed using an environment-friendly design
- During construction, environmentally friendly and local materials have been used.
- The operation doesn’t affect the environment negatively.
- Having a flexible and resilient structure
Hence, the factory architect for green design has to ensure that a majority of the features are there in the factory.
Benefits of a green facility
There are tangible and intangible benefits to a green building. The tangible benefits include reduced project cost, energy efficiency, reduced operational expenses, a faster ROI on renewable energy. Also, the intangible benefits include reduced waste, better indoor air quality, and reduced heat island effect. Additionally, a green-certified building can improve the branding of the company.
In conclusion, the factory architect has to design a facility that is green and stops deterioration of the condition of the environment.
Finally, As Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” Let’s do our bit in improving the condition of the earth.
