Canadians spend about 90 percent of their time indoors, according to Health Canada. After all, where do we feel safer than in the comfort of our own homes? But, as Health Canada reports, some traditional materials like foam insulation and porous wood products used in the construction of these buildings can release toxins like formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds into the air, or promote fungal growth. This means that the very walls that protect us have the potential to cause us harm.
Buildings designed to include harmful materials don’t only impact the health of those within them—they’re also negatively impacting the health of our planet’s environment. That’s why it’s important for professionals with computer-aided design (CAD) training to design buildings that make use of the healthiest building materials available, using their expertise to keep their community’s health and environment a top priority.
Read on to learn how CAD and building with ‘green’ materials can go hand in hand:
Grads of CAD Design Courses Help Keep Projects Green Right from the Beginning
“Every construction project is a new opportunity to get buildings healthier,” says the Healthy Building Network. This organization advocates for more environmentally responsible building material choices, aiming to push the architectural industry away from relying on “materials that are synthetic, chemically processed or treated.”
Experts at the Healthy Building Network say this goal can only be achieved in collaboration with graduates of CAD college courses:
“Builders and building owners often don’t know what building materials are made from and only learn about health concerns after a project are completed,” explains the Healthy Building Network. “Environmental benefits can only be fully realized when they are incorporated at the project’s conceptual design phase, with the assistance of an integrated team of professionals.”
CAD Students Learn to Incorporate Green Building Materials into Designs
Digital School students take a course entitled ‘Construction Materials and Methods,’ where they examine the specific products and raw materials used in the assembly of buildings, architectural structures, and other industrial projects. They design with this knowledge in mind.
For example, CAD students learn that recycled building materials like compressed plywood and recycled steel helps to reduce a building’s environmental impact. Incorporating recycled steel beams into a design also offers some extra advantages too. That’s because recycled steel saves costs that would be incurred by using new steel and also reduces the risk of fungal growth by having a much higher moisture resistance than wood products. There are now also many alternatives to formaldehyde-full insulation foam, including concrete as well as plant-based rigid foams made from materials like hemp, kelp, and bamboo.
CAD students use recycled building materials like compressed plywood in their designs
Once they graduate, CAD students can then work alongside construction and architectural professionals, connecting them with this knowledge and ensuring that ideal materials are designed into the building project at hand.
How Grads of CAD College Courses Practice ‘Green’ Design
As you’ll learn in your CAD design courses, the process of designing a ‘green’ space is complex and goes far beyond selecting green materials. Where might windows best be placed to maximize airflow and indoor air quality (IAQ)? How can you adhere to an architect’s conceptual specifications while reducing a building’s functional water consumption? How might a space’s design take advantage of natural light, ultimately improving its energy efficiency? Your training will teach you to use state-to-the-art software to create designs that keep these top considerations in mind.
This can make the creations you produce not only mathematically, geometrically, and architecturally sound, but environmentally-conscious as well.
Are you interested in pursuing computer-aided design training?
Visit Digital School for more information or to speak with an advisor.
