SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

ASSIGNMENT 1

SUBMITTED BY:
ADITI VERMA
GEN-1
9TH SEM
AIT-SAP
Green house effect
Meaning: Progressive warming up of the earth
surface due to high concentration of manmade
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Concentration of CO₂ works like a glass panel of
greenhouse allowing short wave incoming solar
radiation to come in but preventing the long
wave heat to re-radiated out.
The natural outcome is warmer atmosphere -
100 years ago CO ₂ - 275ppm
In the year - 375pp
2007 m
In the year - 450pp
2040 m
The greenhouse effect is a
process by which thermal
radiation from a planetary
surface is absorbed by
atmospheric greenhouse
gases, and is re-radiated in all
directions.

Since part of this re-radiation is

back towards the surface,
energy is transferred to the
surface and the lower
atmosphere.

As a result, the temperature

there is higher than it would be
if direct heating by solar
radiation were the only warming
mechanism.
Picture presentation of Green house effect
 Natural greenhouse Artificial greenhouse

a) It is created naturally. a) It is created by humans.

The greenhouse gases in the b) The transparent glass allows the

b)
atmosphere trap the solar radiations to pass through and traps
radiations to warm the earth. the radiations by not letting them
escape.

c) It occupies a large It occupies a relatively small

c)
area. area.

It creates the heating effect in It creates the heating effect only

d) d)
the whole earth. in a certain specified area.
The major green house gases
The gases with the properties of greenhouse are
known as green house gases.
Some gases in earth’s atmosphere for example, water
(H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and
nitrous oxide (N 2 O) have a very special property .They
do not absorb the visible light from the sun, but they do
absorb the infrared light radiated by the Earth's
surface. These are called "greenhouse gases"
.
Carbon dioxide.
Halogen gases like Chlorofluorocarbons,
nitrogen oxide ,
methane etc.
Gas type responsible

percentage
0.4
6
1 co₂
1
methane
CFC
1
9
N₂O
6
4
others
 Sources of greenhouse gases
1. Thermal power stations based on fossil fuels,
mainly coal and mineral oil emitting huge
amount of CO₂.
2. Numerous factories and industrial chimney
wastes
3. Automobiles
4. Deforestation and burning of fossil fuels.
 Sources of activity

Percentage

Fossil
2
4 Agriculture
4 Deforestation
9
1 Industry
4

1
3
 Effects of Greenhouse effect
1. global warming and climate change.
2. Rise of sea level
3. Worsening health effects
4. Disruption of the water cycle
5. Changing forest and natural areas
6. Challenges to agriculture and the food
supply
7. Effect on the ozone layer
8. Effect on oceanic climate
 A Flow Chart
The sunlight passes through the atmosphere and the earth's
surface absorbs it.

The land heated by the sunlight emit back the heat as

infrared rays

The Green House Gases absorb this

heat.

Part of this heat is sent towards the ground, and it heats the earth’s
surface and the lower atmosphere again.
incoming
radiation

Solar energy reaches the Earth’s surface

incoming radiation

infrared
radiation

Earth’s surface warms, emits radiation

incoming radiation

greenhouse
gases

infrared
radiation

Greenhouse gases absorb IR leaving the

surface
incoming radiation

greenhouse
gases

infrared radiation

Gases are energized, then emit radiation

(IR)
 incoming radiation

Greenhouse
gases

infrared
radiation

Some of this IR reaches the planet surface, warming it

further
Some examples
Country specific carbon
emission Percentage

USA
CHINA
EAST
EUROPE
WEST
EUROPE
INDIA
JAPAN
S.AFRICA
ALL OTHERS
Control of Greenhouse Effect
Alternate sources of energy are to be used
Advanced and efficient technologies for
reducing emissions from fossil fuels.
Afforestation and reforestation on a large
scale
Water logging should be avoided
Reduction of the use of CFC
Carbon market
Option for reducing Co₂
Carbon Management
Dr. Klaus and his synthetic trees
John H Martins theory of phytoplankton
growth in ocean
Injection of Co₂ into underground strata or deep
ocean water
Global warming and Climate change
The Sun's surface, which has an
average temperature of 10,000 degrees
Fahrenheit (5810 degrees Kelvin),
primarily radiates visible light.
The surface of the Earth has an average
temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit (288
degrees Kelvin), so it radiates in the
infrared part of the spectrum.
The temperature of an object is
determined by a balance between
incoming and outgoing energy.
For the Earth, the incoming energy is the
absorbed light from the Sun, and the outgoing
energy is the infrared light the Earth radiates out
to space.
Due to the greenhouse effect the earth could not
radiate
the total heat and thus make life possible.
Global warming is also happening because the
blanket of GHG are becoming thicker.
Consequences
As a result change of climate has occurred
which threats the sustainability of life. The
consequences are as follows -:
 Melting of polar ice caps and glaciers along with
thermal expansion of water.
 More droughts and floods.
 More terrible storms.
 Many more hot days.
 More diseases like malaria and dengue
 Impacts of ecosystem would change the crop
production potential of a region specially Asia,
Africa, South and Central America.
Cont..

 Forests may disappear and reduction of

biodiversity.
 Billions of people will be affected by problems of
drinking water supply, sanitation, and drought.
 Projected rise of sea level is between 9 cm to
29 cm by 2029 and 96 cm by 2090. The South
Asian region with ⅙ of the world population will
suffer greatly.
 Increase in heat stress mortality and diseases.
Who is responsible ?
Affluent and rich countries are
responsible for changes of climate.
Global energy consumption and CO₂
emissions have increased 3 times
between 1950 – 85.
In 1990 out of 21 billion tons of global
emissions, 14 billion tons are emitted by
rich countries.
US alone emitted 5 billion tons of carbon.
India emits 159 million tons.
Solutions to increasing Greenhouse effect

• Reduce the use of materials which produce greenhouse gases.

• Avoid the burning of fossil fuel and household residue.
• Upgrade infrastructures.
• Afforestation.
• Using alternative sources of energy.
• Using eco-friendly materials.
• Incineration plant should be established.
• Pollution should be controlled……
 Solutions to Greenhouse effect
• Decrease the demand for electricity and fuel as much as
possible
through efficiency measures.
• Decrease the demand for distributed use of hydrocarbon fuels
as much as possible by focusing on electrification of
transportation (including light-duty vehicles, trains, buses,
and some trucks), water and space heating in buildings, and
industrial process heating.
• Produce electricity with very low emissions through a
combination of nuclear power, fossil fuel generation with
carbon capture and storage (CCS), and renewable sources;
and provide load-balancing services without emissions as
much as possible, using energy storage or smart- grid
solutions.
• Use low-carbon–intensity biofuels to meet as much of the
remaining hydrocarbon fuel demand (both liquid and
gaseous) as possible.
 Roles of students
in minimizing the effects of increasing
Greenhouse effect
• Forming local level student union to increase
student participation in environment
conservation .
• Conducting Afforestation programs,
especially in urban areas to restore
greenery.
• Including students from all over the world
from different ecological regions so that
protection campaigns can be made much
more effective.
 Conclusion
Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would not
be able to support life. But if the greenhouse effect
becomes too strong, the earth will be too hot to
support life. Even a little to much heat could hurt the
animals, plants, and everything else on the planet.
Without the gasses that surround the planet, heat
would escape back into space, causing the earths
average tempter to be about 60 degrees colder.
Calculated Carbon Footprint