Wall is one of the most important parts of architecture and construction. We can easily cause respiratory diseases when expose to or get in touch with common walls’ materials. Walls act as a sound insulator to reduce noise and let us have a better quality of life. Below listed out 3 points for reference and sharing:

1. .Air and odor: Dust particle is the major cause of poor indoor air quality, while poor ventilation or airway flow promotes fungal and bacterial growth, causing respiratory diseases.
2. The breathing walls: Selection of wall construction materials able to discharge steam and bio-wastes are preferable. Lime, cement paste, plaster, timber, cork and most of the fiberboards are good example of choices.
3. Drench coating and wall inner layers: Wall sealers paint should not be used, and also plastic raw materials should not be used as wall inner layers.
4. Remove poisonous raw materials and construction materials: Use environmental friendly green building materials and non-toxic paint, avoid using chemical deodorant and use of natural volatile flavor!
5. Air Circulation: A proper ventilation of the environment is a must for massive handling of chemical substance; periodic inspection on gas or switches of combustion devices; keep the in-house air circulated.
6. Avoid accumulation of odor and moist: Bathrooms and kitchens need regular cleanups to avoid accumulating bad smell and excessive moist; keep cleaning confined space likes staircase closet or basement, these areas most likely to accumulate odor and unusual smell!
7. Sound and sound-insulation: noise affects human emotion; acoustic disturbances will possibly cause harmful biological and psychological effect such as insomnia, inattention and cardiac arrhythmia.
8. Reduce noise dissemination: Hearing Health home building, reduce air-borne noise into the house and reduce indoor noise.
9. Separate noisy and quiet space: Separate bedrooms away from noisy play-room or television area; closet may build-up when necessary to improve sound insulation.
10. Seals up all noises: Planting flowers outside the house can reduce the amount of sound reflection; fences and mounds may also reflect the noise upward, deviated from the windows and garden in lower position!
11. Double glazing: The gap between two glass layers can weaken the sound, larger the gap, better the sound insulation; lining can be fitted between the inside and outside glass to absorb some of the sound!
12. The use of double-decked airtight window and hinged window: No matter the window is designed by pushing out or pulling in, the sound-insulated effect should better than the traditional one by rolling left and right; curtains hanged beside the bed may help to absorb sound too.
13. Sound absorption ground materials may reduce the sound of strike: Transmission of sound is like a drum when acting on a hard surface, the washing machine can be placed on the surface of strong absorption to reduce noise transmission! Avoid the use of sound-absorbing material made of foam, use cork, rubber or vinyl products, carpet!

SOURCE : http://blog.xuite.net/gogreen8/gogreen/32120931

Here are 10 ways to make your buildings operate more efficiently and more cost effectively. The 10 tips for efficient building operations are:

1. Practice smart scheduling. Smart scheduling of lighting and HVAC equipment based on occupancy ensures that the load correlates with hours of building use and number of occupants. Install programmable building controls that enable systems to provide light, heat and cooling to building spaces only when they are occupied.
2. Train your facilities staff on new technology and best practices to improve your building’s operational efficiency.
3. Use daylight to help light your interior spaces. Daylight can supplement artificial light. Design your building to maximize indirect daylighting. Install light sensors and
   open shades during the day. Counterbalance these activities by reducing light load.
4. Water conservation. Harvest, treat and filter rain, storm water run-off and precipitation for landscaping, toilets and urinals. Consider weather-based or moisture-sensing irrigation controls.
5. Work with green suppliers. Green your supply chain by giving preference to suppliers and vendors who follow specific environmental practices. Purchase Energy Star copiers, fax machines, computers and printers that power down when not in use. Consider remanufactured office supplies such as recharged toner cartridges.
6. Create dashboards to gauge efficiency. Create management and tenant dashboards that display vital data of energy usage, estimated greenhouse gas emissions, building comparisons, and more to improve operating decisions and energy awareness.
7. Use more energy-efficient equipment. Install new energy-efficient equipment and replace or eliminateoutdated, inefficient equipment. Look for ENERGY STAR
   labels for equipment and appliances.
8. Maintain equipment for maximum efficiency. Make sure that your equipment is properly serviced and maintained so that it runs as efficiently as possible. Increase
   operating efficiency of chillers, boilers and packaged cooling equipment through proactive service and maintenance.
9. Put energy management software to work. Utilize energy management software to reduce energy costs through improved energy efficiency and energy management. Monitoring the actual data may:
   • Identify and explain increases or decreases in energy use;
   • Draw energy consumption trends on a weekly, seasonal or other basis;
   • Determine future energy use when planning changes in the business;
   • Diagnose specific areas of wasted energy;
   • Observe how the business reacted to changes in the past; and
   • Develop performance targets for energy management programs.
10. Measure and manage your carbon footprint. Establish your organization’s carbon footprint and begin to manage it downward by addressing the least efficient parts of your operation first.

Source: http://blog.printer.com/2009/04/printing-costs-does-font-choice-make-a-difference/

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HKGPC members:
www.hkgpc.org/html/eng/member.aspx

If you have any feedbacks / suggestions on our green initiatives, please feel free to write to info@greencouncil.org