by Mia Hill

Created on: April 15, 2010

A zero-carbon building is one that uses solar panels and/or wind turbines to produce the energy needed to meet its electrical requirements. Another way of stating it is, the electrical requirements for a green building are generated by the building itself, using renewable sources. This concept of a green building may seem foreign, even impossible to some; however, there are numerous success stories that prove the implementation of a completely green building is both structurally possible and economically viable.

Environmentalists have been warning for decades about the harmful effects of greenhouse-gas emissions on the ecosystem, and the governments of the industrialized world have finally begun to give this issue serious consideration. The World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme set up The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to examine the environmental effects of carbon emissions. In the initial report, the IPCC was unable to determine the full extent of the damage greenhouse gases has caused to the planet because of the lack of available long-term statistics. Rounds 1 and 2 of the IPCC climate conferences were held in August 1990 and December 1995 respectively. In these subsequent conferences it was reported, “the balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on global climate.” (1) In the IPCC’s climate report #3 released in 2001 there was a more definitive description of the damages, indicating that human activities were indeed contributing to the changes in the climate.

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol covenant sets out the timeframe for the 37 developed nations to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. In 2004 when Russia informed the United Nations (UN) of its decision to ratify the covenant. The quota requirements were met as a result of Russia’s ratification, and in 2005 the pact went into effect. The expiration date for the Kyoto Protocol commitment was set for 2012 with a target of a 5.2 percent reduction of the 1990 gas emissions to be reached by that date.

Many of affluent countries in the industrial world failed to ratify the Kyoto agreement when it was first drawn up, but in December 2007, Australia ratified the Kyoto agreement that left the United States the only country to ratify. Although the world governments have signed and ratified Protocol there still remains disagreement among the nations about many of the details in the covenant. However,

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>