What Is Green Engineering
There is much emphasis on green engineering these days. It is the design of products and services or design of processes that help to conserve natural resources to optimal levels and will reduce the impact on the natural environment as much as possible. The term applies to housing as well as for automobiles, lights, different kinds of devices or systems which need engineering that can incorporate sound principles that are environmental friendly. Today green engineering is deemed to be more expensive than ordinary or traditional engineering methods. There are many countries that recognize the value of such work and the benefits for the society as a whole. Thus, countries and governments are providing tax breaks and incentives to those who are taking up green engineering.

How These Principles Are Taught
There are green engineers who take up special training in their fields of specialization:

• Not only do they learn the basic principles and traditional methods in their field of work but there is special emphasis on how different materials and components can be used in a way that is environmentally friendly
• Use of appliances which are powered by solar cells or water heaters and even solar lights are instances of green engineering

When These Principles Need To Be Incorporated

If you are constructing a new building, it is the best time to try and incorporate the green engineering processes in the different phases of construction.

• Many engineers are opting to retrofit the building with more natural and old fashioned methods that use little energy and use renewable sources of energy to run themselves
• There is much emphasis on concepts that are environmentally friendly in such building projects
• However there is a lot of effort that needs to be built in to congregate the traditional or Eco friendly methods together

When the design of a building or a project is started from scratch with green engineering in mind, it is better to incorporate such aspects than later on.

LEED Certification And Green Engineering
Nowadays Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED certification has become a must for most buildings. That is a standard that most new buildings try and achieve. Thus such buildings incorporate most of the principles of green engineering. Such a certification is not provided by any government agency but it is a certification that holds up a standard for all the different engineers to follow. Some owners are even paying bonus amounts to get their building LEED certified.

For such a certification certain criteria need to be satisfied. These include water use efficiency, the design of the electricity and energy sources and systems, materials used, design process and so forth. In such ways green engineering ensures that minimal damage is done by the building construction and by the inhabitation of the building. That is how green engineering practices are becoming vital in most civil and architectural projects.