What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Green living or an environment\r\nfriendly residence? If you are thinking of a standalone house along the country side with acres of green\r\npastures around, then you are in for a surprise!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
According to an article published by Forbes titled \u2018Power Hungry: The States that use the most and least\r\nenergy per capita\u2019, some of the states that consume the least energy per capita in the United States is\r\nNew York, Rhode Island, California, Hawaii and Florida. Shocking right?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Let us look at the city of New York as it is the most surprising one on the list.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
David Ocwen, the author of \u2018Green Metropolis\u2019 compares the densely populated city of New York to the\r\nprimarily forested city of Vermont that is known for its natural landscape. According to him, an average\r\nNew Yorker consumes about a quarter as much gasoline as an average Vermonter. They also consume\r\nfar less electricity about 4700 kilowatt hours per household compared to roughly 7100 kilowatt hours\r\nthat is consumed in Vermont.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The very reason that the city of New York might look like an environment nightmare could be the reason\r\nfor it being environment friendly \u2013 High density clustered living<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Though there\u2019s no clear definition of what makes a city environmentally friendly, the buildings in the city\r\ndefinitely play a role. New York as we know is called the city of Skyscrapers<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n There is no denying the fact that there are major environmental impacts involved throughout the\r\nlifecycle of a building. When a building is constructed, they tend to require a lot of natural resources and\r\nenergy for the construction process. Once they\u2019ve been built, they use energy for heating, air\r\nconditioning, lighting, and appliances. Finally, when the building is no longer desired, the building\r\nmaterials must be disposed. But people still need houses to live in and places to work from.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The best way to reduce the environment impact of buildings is to use less building per person i.e. Saves energy<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Apartment buildings can save a lot of electric energy in heating and air-conditioning as apartments share\r\nwalls with each other and thus don\u2019t lose as much heat outside. Smaller flats also discourage people\r\nfrom buying and adding more things, because there is less space to put them in. This indirectly avoids\r\nthe environmental impacts of manufacturing the stuff.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a person living in a typical suburban community\r\nwill use around three times more energy per year than someone living in an apartment-style building\r\nnear public transportation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Reduces traffic congestion<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Apartment living can reduce traffic congestion as people who live in the city also tend to work and Better waste management<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n According to a case study done by an NGO A-tree on waste management in Bengaluru, an average\r\nmiddle class household generates about 437 kg of waste annually. Reduction of wastage is necessary\r\nbut better waste management is the need of the hour. Services that improve the environmental impacts\r\nof a city, such as waste water treatment, recycling, and composting, are all easier when everyone lives\r\ncloser together.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Encourages Neighborhood Development<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Although a sense of community exists in both rural and suburban areas, the close proximity of\r\napartment living enhances the probability of creating life- long connections which improve the quality of\r\nlife of people living there.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n We have been taught to think that crowded cities and high rise buildings are the primary cause for our\r\nworst environmental problems. Hence, the fact that a crowded city be labeled as Green might sound\r\nludicrous to most.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Why else do you think most European cities have such low per capita energy consumption than other\r\nplaces, it\u2019s not a miraculous breakthrough that they have discovered. Among other factors it\u2019s also that\r\nEuropeans are more likely to live in dense cities and leave other areas of lush green land undisturbed.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Green living or an environment friendly residence? If you are thinking of a standalone house along the country side with acres of green pastures around, then you are in for a surprise! According to an article published by Forbes titled \u2018Power Hungry: The States that use the most and least energy per capita\u2019, some of the states that consume the least energy per capita in the United States is New York, Rhode Island, California, Hawaii and Florida. Shocking right? Let us look at the city of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\r\nApartment living<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\nsocialize in the city. The residents are conveniently located close to the shops ,cafes and facilities they
\r\nneed, thereby reducing use of a car for short trips. High-rise buildings are also usually located near
\r\npublic transportation and commercial centers, so people can walk or take a bus to get around.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n