There’s no refuting that the construction and building industry takes a significant toll on the environment by extracting natural resources and whatnot. Actually, construction CO2 emissions represent a significant piece of the pie of the manufacturing industry’s carbon footprint. You see, according to the American Energy Administration, the average 2,386-square-foot home emits around 20,564 pounds of carbon per year, mainly through the consumption of natural gas and electricity usage. That means that every time the construction industry hands over a house to a new homeowner, they indirectly contribute to the inevitability of climate change, albeit somewhat justifiably.
That said, here is why architects, builders, and civil engineers should start planting trees to negate carbon emissions.
- Forests are the Most Pragmatic Solution to the Looming Climate Change Crises
Did you know that a single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at an impressive rate of 12kg annually? Apart from this, trees are known to act as a pollution filter, given their nature-given ability to absorb and take up pollutants via the stomata and leaf surfaces. Also, trees are known to lower the overall ambient temperature through transpiration and act as natural heat sinks by providing ground cover that stops the ground from absorbing and irradiating too much heat.
- It’s an Excellent Way of Promoting Biodiversity
We already know that trees are simply essential for life. They help filter the water that we (as human beings) need for survival and provide shade and natural habitat to over 80% of the globe’s terrestrial biodiversity. If anything, through trees, researchers and entomologists can understand the present, past, and future. This kind of biodiversity will be lost if we (builders and architects included) stop planting trees.
- Adds Fresh Oxygen into the Atmosphere
Trees (and green plants, by extension) are the only living organisms on earth that extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while simultaneously pumping out fresh oxygen back in. So, in other words, by committing to planting a tree for every square foot of housing that is built, builders will not just be lessening the burden of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere but also contributing towards increasing oxygen levels.
References: ClimateMIT, PrincetonEDU
