Introduce ZED buildings principles and its Philosophy in relation to Essay

Introduce ZED buildings principles and its Philosophy in relation to Energy efficiency policy,why ZED is becoming one of the mos - Essay Example Efforts have been made in order for the negative effects of building projects on the natural environment to be minimized – for example, the update of existing British legislation on wildlife and the adoption of Kyoto Protocol by a series of countries worldwide (The Telegraph 2010). The ZED building philosophy is the major initiative of this type. The specific framework has been primarily promoted by organizations operating in the private sector – reference is made to ZED Factory, a firm focusing on the expansion of ZED building philosophy in building projects across Britain. However, the ZED building principles – as analytically explained by ZED Factory – could be easily adopted by firms of the construction industry; this effort would have more chances to succeed if the relevant principles were gradually adopted – for instance, through the incorporation, primarily, of energy saving schemes, a fact highlighted in the BedZED (eco-village) scheme (BedZ ED, Eco-Community, 2011). Moreover, the support of the state would increase the effectiveness of ZED building principles on existing building projects; this initiative could be developed worldwide – using the theoretical and practical framework suggested by ZED Factory, as explained throughout the paper. The examination of the existing status and performance of ZED building philosophy has led to the conclusion that the specific framework would be quite effective for limiting the negative effects of construction projects on the environment; moreover, its principles are rather easy to be understood and incorporated – being related with the existing energy efficiency schemes as promoted both by individuals and the state. 2. ZED buildings principles and philosophy – description The ZED building philosophy has many different aspects; however, its priority remains the increase of energy efficiency of buildings. Through the years, ZED philosophy has been developed in o rder to meet the advanced requirements of modern buildings – as these requirements have been affected by the technology used in various stages of the relevant building projects. It should be also noted that ZED philosophy couldn’t be understood without referring to its forms and implications in practice, i.e. in the context of buildings on which ZED building principles have been applied. For this reason, the presentation of the particular philosophy has been combined with the reference to construction projects, which have been based on the ZED building principles. An important example of this type is the eco-village BedZED; the buildings of this village have been constructed in such way, so that an important reduction of energy consumption is achieved. Indeed, in a report developed in 2009, i.e. seven years after the completion of the specific building project (in 2002), it was mentioned that the homeowners of the specific site consumed ‘45% lower electricty and 81% less hot water than the borough average’ (PeaBody Organization, UK, 2009, 4); it is also noted that the initial targets of the particular project, i.e. the limitation of the energy consumed by the homeowners and the following limitation of the pollution caused to the environment, have been both