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Environmental benefits have been a main driver behind the
sustainable design movement. Sustainable facilities typically use
lower amounts of fossil fuels, create less air pollution and
greenhouse gas emissions, result in less waste for disposal in
landfills, consume less water and other natural resources, use fewer
virgin building materials, disturb less land, and are more sensitive
to existing ecosystems.
The Air Force as a whole consumes a significant amount of natural
resources with a wide range of environmental impacts. While our
facilities contribute a notable portion of these impacts, mission
related flight activities are an unavoidable contributor to the
greenhouse effect. This impact can be offset through sustainable
design and trading of carbon credits as the Air Force implements
sustainable design strategies and constructs green buildings.
- Improved air quality:
Burning less fuel keeps air cleaner. Much of
the savings in greenhouse gas emissions comes from driving less, but
a significant amount can be realized through adoption of green
building standards and sustainable site design practices such as
building orientation resulting in daylighting reducing the need for
interior lights powered by electricity and density reducing heat
loss from cooling wind exposure.
- Improved water quality:
As vehicle use decreases, so do amounts of
related contaminants, such as hydrocarbons, oils and heavy metals.
Compact development generates three times less storm water runoff
per household than low-density development does. (2) Less runoff
means less erosion, less damage to infrastructure, and less
pollution of streams, lakes and estuaries. Water reclamation through
green roofs, bioswales, and permeable pavements is another huge
benefit to sustainable design.
- Reduced localized temperature:
Trees, green roofs, and green
spaces help cool developed areas in the summer and retain moisture
in arid climates. Recent studies show that trees alone can reduce
local ambient temperatures by 5 degrees. (3) There are many
additional sustainable design techniques that can reduce the heat
island effect of traditional site layout.
Protection of open space and environmentally sensitive areas:
Encouraging compact development reduces development pressure on open
space and environmentally sensitive areas.
(2) “Urban Wet-Weather Flows.” T. P. O’Connor, R. Field, D.
Fischer, R. Rovansek, R. Pitt, S. Clark, and M. Lama. Water
Environment Research (Literature Review 1999), Volume 71, number 4,
1999.
(3) McPherson, E. G.et al., (March, 2003). Northern Mountain
and Prairie Community Tree Guide: Benefits,
Costs and Strategic Planting
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