Nowadays, “green” plays a critical role throughout our world. With the booming of technology and economy, city pollution and material waste are becoming more and more serious. Many views are being debated about the environmental problems in the world, but the pollution of the building is always ignored. The building has a significant impact on the environment throughout our life. The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions is a traditional building, even more than that of the transport and industry sector (Tandon).  People have wanted to find a new method to change this situation for a long time; people have found a lot of ways to reduce the environmental problems and waste. However, this pollution still has affected people’s normal lives and well-being; with the shortage of energy and climate change, green buildings are slowly entering people’s line of sight. In recent years, people have begun to put “green” into our daily life. In the different methods, the green building is an effective way to protect our environment and provide people with health. A green building is a sustainable building, which uses high technology and environment to provide a comfortable life to people. However, green buildings are not popular today, because they have high costs, though they will become more accessible in the future. Therefore, people are concerned by “green” energy and construction. Using “green” energy and building is the future of community development because it can save resources; it can reduce pollution and increase economic efficiency.

It is well known that the pollution should be produced by vehicle, factory, trash and so on. However, some invisible pollution is neglected by people in our lives. It is hard to think of the buildings we live in as the most significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions. But, here is data from the news:

“the construction sector contributes to 23% of air pollution, 50% of the climatic change, 40% of drinking water pollution, and 50% of landfill wastes. In separate research by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the construction industry accounts for 40% of worldwide energy usage, with estimations that by 2030 emissions from commercial buildings will grow by 1.8%” (Initiafy). 

So, from the data, it is clear that the building we live in causes the most pollution; it is not only occupied with resource consumption and fresh water usage, but also takes the substantial waste volume and greenhouse gas emissions. Ordinary buildings usually use fossil fuels, but the results of these fuels are serious climate change and the shortage of fossil fuels. The CO2 emissions also can be produced by the material from the regular building. “building material, such as concrete, aluminum, and steel, are directly responsible for “large quantities of CO2 emissions” due to high contents of “embodied energy content”, with 9.8 million tons of CO2 generated from the production of 76 million tons of finished concrete in the US.” (Initiafy). These behaviors cause carbon dioxide to increase in the atmosphere, resulting in a gradual reduction in oxygen. Oxygen reduction leads to an increase in carbon dioxide and a slow rise in temperature. According to research, climate change leads to temperature changes, which means an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which results in increased crop productivity and rapid growth of weeds. In addition, extreme weather can cause damage to agriculture and transport (Kanji). As a result, excessive use of excess fossil fuels can lead to significant greenhouse gas emissions that affect people's lives. Besides that, buildings use a lot of resources, and lead to environmental pollution caused by the use of a large number of chemicals during construction. Studies show that “construction activities consume “half of all the resources” extracted from nature, and account for one-sixth of global freshwater consumption, one-quarter of wood consumption, and one-quarter of global waste, according to the research” (Initiafy). So, a building can consume a lot of supplies and cause serious pollution. Thus, these activities will have a negative impact on people's lives. In fact, they have a connection with each other, and the building has a major impact on the water. “There are many chemicals used during the construction process, many of which can be quite harmful to both your contract workers and the surrounding environment if not handled correctly” (Initiafy). Surrounding environments can be heavily polluted, particularly surrounding water pools. Therefore, the water is not only wasted after construction, but it could have been affected at the time of installation. From the above, it is clear that the building plays a significant role in the world, so the pollution from buildings is albeit subtle but harmful to people. But, structures are indispensable in the life of people. Thus, people created green buildings which are a sustainable building using technology and nature.

Green buildings use green energy and materials which are beneficial for the environment and people. Using green power is an efficient way that can slow climate change. Green energy is renewable energy, which can create electricity, water and so on. As we know, solar power is belonging to green energy, which also is a renewable resource. Solar energy is rich in resources and can be free to use. The most important thing is no pollution to the environment, so many building designers could use this energy in building green construction. Designers use technology to design passive solar buildings which could use low-energy. Green building energy consumption is equivalent to 70% of the typical building energy consumption (Dwaikat & Kherun N). Thus, people could choose to use solar energy as the primary method of providing power, because it saves energy. “Solar water heating further reduces energy costs. Onsite generation of renewable energy through solar power, wind power, hydropower, or biomass can significantly reduce the environmental impact of the building” (Dwaikat & Kherun N).  From the words, the new energy can replace the conventional resources that make the climate worse. Therefore, the clean energy will reduce carbon dioxide emissions, thereby improving the status of climate change. Using the recycled materials can be viewed as saving resources. According to the video, Clock Shadow has first elevator using regenerative energy is located in the Milwaukee, which used fifty percent of the building materials are recycled, and the majority of the building materials regionally sources 99% of waste (SilverWater Productions). This building as a unique example, which showed how the building is saving the resource. In the past, it is hard for people to consider about using waste as the majority of building material. But, the green building did it and fully demonstrate the benefits of resource conservation. In addition, green building not only saves energy, but it also can keep water. Green buildings can reduce water consumption and protect water quality. Green buildings could use recycled water like rainwater as the primary water source and minimize wasting of water and increase possibilities of re-using water (Williams). This design is an excellent way to save water. The water in the green building is healthy, and a form of environmental protection and people could use the pool again as ordinary water. Wherever feasible, green buildings can increase their reliance on water collected, used, purified and reused on site. For example:

“The protection and conservation of water throughout the life of a building may be accomplished by designing for dual plumbing that recycles water in toilet flushing or by using water for washing of the cars. Wastage of water may be minimized by utilizing water conserving fixtures such as ultra-low flush toilets and low-flow shower heads” (Dwaikat & Kherun N). 

There are a lot of designs that are used in green buildings, as mentioned prior, which have brought benefits to people's lives and the environment. Moreover, the renewable energy and designs are used in the green building can reduce the waste and consumption of resources: “The typical energy and water saving in green buildings ranges from 30% to 50%... that green buildings save energy on an average of 30% compared to conventional (non-green) buildings” (Dwaikat & Kherun N). According to the data, we can know high utilization, low emissions, and low pollution are owned by green buildings. These are common buildings do not have. Therefore, people should use this model to build their construction as a new green way to protect our world and save energy.

The green building can save energy and reduce resource consumption, and it also can reduce pollution. As we all know, the corruption in our world is becoming severe, and the pollution affects our lives and influences people’s health. In some views, they believe that the critical pollution comes from the traffic, factory, agriculture and so on. However, the corruption is not only from the transport and industry sector; it is also from the conventional buildings. Furthermore, the building construction is one of the largest consumers of environmental resources, and is a significant emitter of greenhouse gas and other pollution (Liu and Boqiang): 

“the building sector consumed 41% of the total primary energy… Fossil fuels are the main source of primary energy consumption, upward of 82% (EIA 2010). These energy resources are limited and are major contributors to carbon dioxide (CO2CO2) emissions, which are rising globally at more than 2% per year (DOE 2010). Global carbon dioxide emissions exceeded 31 billion metric tons in 2010, with the United States contributing more than 5 billion metric tons” (Kim et al.). 

The data indicate that the standard building has a fossil energy consumption and high carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, people's lives will be greatly affected by the pollution of buildings. The ordinary buildings use standard material and energy which causes this situation, but the green building is the opposite of this. So, people should pay more attention to the building construction and do not ignore its seriousness. The green building can change this situation; it can use advanced technology and new resources to reduce the pollution. This architecture uses renewable resources such as solar, wind and geothermal (heat from the earth) as energy to minimize the impact of construction on the environment (Dwaikat and Kherun). Therefore, the green building is not just reducing the energy consumption, but also reducing the greenhouse gas emission. For this reason, people should consider building the green structures to take the place of the ordinary building. The green building can give people many benefits, which improve the lives of people and reduce the pollution. 

The green building is a recycling and sustainable structure, and it can make lifelong benefits for people and save money. The green building can save energy and materials to help people save money. The conventional buildings have a significant influence on the environment, and about 40% of worldwide energy flow and material use (Tandon). From this point, we can know the building occupies a large part of the economy. Only if people decrease the energy and material, they can save money and do other things. Green building could reduce energy consumption because it is designed to use lower embodied energy like wood gravel and asphalt, and specify high-performance windows and extra insulation in walls, ceilings, and floors, which reduce waste materials (Tandon). Therefore, green buildings can help people save money, because designers could use advanced technology and equipment to minimize the wasting of materials. Besides that, for the inside of the green buildings, according to Park and Hawkins, “Energy savings are one of the main reasons to install green roofs. The City of Chicago has installed green roofs since the early 2000s with City Hall as the most prominent site City Hall saves approximately 10,000 kWh and $3,600 per year due to its green roof (EPA 2008; Getter and Rowe 2006).” According to this news, it is clearly knowing that the government's behavior is also to let people know the green building and make a goal for people. From the aforementioned information, we can know that the green building can help people a lot and give people many benefits. While economic benefits are good, green buildings can also bring good effects to people's lives. The green design as a structure of the green building is also an excellent way to save money, which can provide people with lifelong benefits. 

Some people believe that the green building should not be built, and they disagree that the green building as the main construction in the future. They argue that the green building is not a good way to protect their culture and they think that the green building destroys the traditional building and traditional culture. In some countries, like China, there are many traditional buildings. For some people, they suppose that the green building could affect these traditional buildings, which would make people forget their culture. However, the establishment of the green building is a new way to the continuation of the culture, which does not mean it must destroy the traditional building and break the culture. Designers could use the advanced technology and materials to establish the green building like the traditional architecture. Therefore, people can remember the culture from building and know that green building is better.

Furthermore, a significant reason why the green building is not accessible in the world is the cost. Green buildings outperform traditional (non-green) buildings in many performance areas. Nonetheless, building owners and investors see higher up-front costs as often seen as a barrier to widespread adoption of green buildings. According to a study:

 “the green school buildings cost is 46% higher than that of the conventional school buildings, and the mean construction cost per square foot of the green schools was significantly higher than that of the conventional schools…an increase of 10.77% in the construction cost due to incorporating new green building code for residential projects development” (Dwaikat and Kherun). 

The cost of the green building is a huge problem to the development of the green building in the world. Buildings are set up by investors for financial rewards, but high-cost green structures give them a small return so that people tend to be more inclined to use conventional buildings. As a result, green buildings are developing slowly in the world, and traditional structures continue to undermine the world environment and waste resources. However, green buildings bring many benefits to people and the world so that the government will provide convenience and protection to green buildings. “The EPA and the Department of Energy have teamed up to create the Energy Star program, which promotes the use of energy-efficient materials in buildings across the US” (Initiafy). In addition, the economic benefits gained after establishing green buildings should not be underestimated: 

 “Green buildings cost less to run and save energy on an average of 30%... the financial benefits are 10 times as high as the average cost premium which equals 1.84%... key economic benefits of green buildings: 60% reduction in water and energy consumption, 1–25% productivity increase, minimum 14% higher rate of return, 10% higher market value for asset, 5–10% higher rental rate, in addition to free promotion” (Dwaikat and Kherun). 

From the words, it can be known that the economic benefits from the green building are higher than the standard construction. Although the cost of the green building is higher than the natural structure, it still can give users and investors a lot of economic benefits. So, the green building is built by people who can still get financial benefits when the cost of green building at a high price.

In conclusion, people can get many benefits from green buildings. Green energy and construction can not only save the environment but also help people save money and power. Green buildings are a significant discovery of the 21st century which brings a lot of benefits to people and society. The green building can deal with the climate change that affects people’s lifestyle and damages people’s habitat, and at the same time, it is a good project that can be chosen for economic benefit. There is no doubt that climate change is severe in recent years, but the development of the green building can remit this situation to the world. People should pay attention to green energy and construction because this could be the future of community development. Furthermore, the green building would not destroy the culture in the traditional building, and it would be a continuation of civilization. Although it also has some shortcomings, especially the cost is much higher than the conventional buildings, its benefits are good for the world, and people could solve the fault in the future. It will not be limited to a structure; it could help people keep in touch with nature. In the future, more and more green building will be good for people and world. 
