Enforcing green building standards on every new building or renovation will save the construction of power plants billions of dollars

Says Dr. Aryeh Nesher from the Porter School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University on the occasion of the presentation of the school's green building that will be designed to save electricity, recycle water and reduce garbage

With the exception of one exception - incentives for the construction of photovoltaic cells on new public buildings, the State of Israel does not worry about saving electricity and recycling water in new buildings. "If the new standards in the field of green construction were implemented in Israel, such as the American LEED standard, it would be possible to save the economy billions of dollars," says Dr. Aryeh Nesher from the Porter School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University.

Dr. Nesher emphasizes that there is an Israeli standard for green construction 5281, but the problem is that it is not a binding standard. In addition to this, this standard requires an update based on the experience of the American and British standard and strive to impose it on new buildings. He also calls for the creation of a new standard for green construction regarding existing buildings - as part of the building renovation procedure.

Dr. Nesher said these things on the occasion of the announcement of the construction of the ecological building of the Porter School which took place recently as part of the meeting of the Board of Trustees of Tel Aviv University.
save building a power plant

According to Dr. Nesher, a coal-fired power plant such as this one that is being built in Ashdod should help supply electricity during peak hours. Sometimes it is an addition of a total of 5% to the normal consumption. Through green construction with the technologies that exist today, it is possible to save electricity thanks to the insulation and produce electricity from the solar collectors, thus reducing the peak by about 10%-20%, and thus there will be no need for a new station.

"The incentives for green construction have not yet passed the level of declarations when the western world has already made great progress in implementation." Dr. Nesher emphasizes and suggests giving green construction incentives similar to those given to those who set up photovoltaic cells that enable their users to receive business income. It is mainly about using the right materials and especially insulation as well as water recycling.

"40% of energy consumption in the economy goes to buildings - both during construction and during routine maintenance. Any savings in this area will result in an almost immediate reduction of electricity consumption in the economy and all that this implies. As for water, there is no need to expand, everyone knows the state of the water economy, and here the government must encourage the use of gray water."

No need to reinvent the wheel. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC), an association that brings together approximately 17 thousand organizations from all construction sectors and its related industry in the United States, developed the LEED standard that rates green construction and promotes the green construction industry. The standard allows a rating of the building to know how green it is according to various indicators including: water use efficiency, energy consumption and damage to the atmosphere, materials and sources, the quality of the home's interior environment, innovation and planning processes. Since the first announcement of the standard, in 1998, approximately 14 projects have been built according to it in the USA and in 30 other countries with an aggregate area of ​​99 square kilometers. According to Nesher, this standard can be adopted with minor adjustments to conditions in Israel.

At the beginning of 2008, it was decided to build a new building for the school, which will concentrate its extensive activities that are currently distributed all over the campus. The building will be the first green building at Tel Aviv University, and one of the first of its kind in Israel. In its existence, the building will serve as a unique and accessible laboratory for green architecture and environmental research, and as such will integrate environmental technologies such as energy generation and water and wastewater recycling. In addition, the building could serve as a platform for future experiments in advanced technologies and environmentally friendly building systems. The building will include classrooms, halls and offices and will serve as a meeting place for researchers from the various faculties of the university with representatives of government ministries, industry representatives and representatives of environmental organizations.

The construction of the school building for environmental studies was made possible thanks to the generous donation of Dame Shirley Porter.

The School of Environmental Studies building will be designed by the team of architects: Axelrod-Grubman Architects with Chen Architects and architect Yossi Kuri (Gautectura Studio). The planning team was selected from about 40 architectural firms that submitted their candidacy for the building's design. The construction of the building should be completed at the end of 2010.