Sustainability

This week I looked into sustainability. I read up on the definition of sustainability: conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources. As well as read up on what Wikipedia had to say on the topic. Coming into this I already had an idea of what sustainability was. After taking AP Earth Environmental in high school and ES 200 Climate Change and Sustainability the fall of my freshman year. The great thing about research is no matter how much you already know about a certain subject there is always so much more out there to learn and take in. I really enjoyed the Wikipedia article, with all of its links. I was able to get a better understanding on the history of sustainability and what direction it is heading.
    Majoring in Civil Engineering, once I get out there in the real world I will be designing and doing calculations for structures such as homes, buildings, bridges, roads, and dams. If its being built there's a good chance that I might be working with it.  Sustainability is an element I would love to implement into these projects. It is also the direction we are heading in; with over 60% of buildings being constructed achieving a LEED certification. In high school, for my senior exit, I wrote a research paper on green buildings incorporating LEED. Green buildings are buildings that use sustainable practices through out its construction process and continue to be sustainable throughout its lifetime. A green building is sustainable. LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a program  run by the US Green Building Commission. It provides incentives for builders to construct green buildings. As well as provide a certificate, ranging from: Certified, Silver, Gold, to Platinum, based on how sustainable a building is. As in high school, for my Civil Engineering and Architecture class I designed a home using green strategies, from the floor electrical plan up to a 3D rendering of the home. I was able to make my home green thanks to the materials I used, incorporating natural lighting using a considerable amount of windows, and an open floor for better circulation of air. To some extent you could say that  sustainability is a part of who I am and what I do.
    I played around with Google alerts for the first time. It’s an app that allows Google to sends me emails with webpages attached that relate to a subject of my choosing. I created three alerts that included Green Buildings, Green Architecture, and Sustainability. I received throughout the week 30 links to news articles that where based around these three topics. I had the opportunity to read up on green roofs, green skyscrapers in Chicago, how universities are incorporating green ideas, and many other articles. Instead of having to look for these article across the infinite realm of the internet, I had them delivered right to my GMail account. So far I only have it set up to receive only news articles but in the upcoming weeks I would like to add on discussion boards, videos, and other blogs. I’ll just have to make sure to be careful and not get overwhelm by all the reading  I’m going to be doing.