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Green Building 綠色建築(上)
空中英語教室 20241018
修正下文英文文法，但是保留其中的中文，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文
Sure! Heres the corrected version with simplified Chinese converted to traditional Chinese:
Hello friends and welcome to Studio Classroom! We’re so glad you’ve joined us for our program. Today we’ve got a great lesson coming up for you. My name is Ann Marie, and my name is John. Friends, today we’re talking about something new. We are talking all about green building. What is green building?
Now you might think that a green building is a building that is painted green. Okay, that is a green building, but here we’re talking about green meaning good for the environment. That’s right! The definition of green is to make something less harmful to the environment. So our idea here is buildings that are good for the environment. We’re going to learn all about them today in our lesson. Friends, today is a great day to learn something new, so let’s do that together with our first reading:
Green Building Making buildings better for people and the planet. The buildings in which we live, work, and shop shape our experiences. The construction and maintenance of these buildings also require significant resources. So, a growing number of architects are trying to design buildings while keeping both sustainability and quality of life in mind. The term green building can refer to one of these structures or to the process of constructing them.
Hi everyone! Welcome to Language Lab. I’m Jack. 首先，我們來看refer to這個片語。動詞意思是提到或者談及，例如: when you refer to your boss, be sure to use a formal title like Mister Jackson or Miss Barnes. 當你提到你的老板時，請務必使用正式頭銜，如Jackson先生或Barnes女士。或是: the recipe referred to room temperature butter, so Cheryl took it out of the refrigerator to let it get soft. 食譜中提到室溫奶油，所以Cheryl把它從冰箱裡拿出來讓它軟化。
Refer to 也指查閱或參考，例如: you need to refer to the user manual to find out how to operate the machine properly. 你需要參考使用手冊，了解如何正確操作這台機器。
Okay friends, let’s get right into our lesson. We read here, "making buildings better for people and the planet." We have this idea of green buildings already, and as we said earlier, the idea is if something is green, then it is less harmful to the environment. Yeah! For example, you could say paper straws are green because they can turn into dirt after you’re done with them.
There are a lot of new plans to make things green and green buildings. The idea has been around for a while, but today we’re going to talk about why focusing on buildings is so important. We read here that the buildings in which we live, work, and shop shape our experiences. I like that phrase "to shape experiences." What does that mean?
Yeah, well, if something is shaping our experiences, it means that what we experience changes, and this changes our beliefs, our values, our perspectives, just because of the things that we are going through in life. I see. I could even say my parents really shaped my experiences when I was growing up.
Right! That’s right. But we read on here that the construction and maintenance of these buildings also require significant resources. So a growing number of architects are trying to design buildings while keeping both sustainability and quality of life in mind. A lot of things to look at here, friends. Let’s define what an architect is first. That’s a really important noun for a job. It means the person who designs a building. Normally, they draw it and make the plans for a building, so maybe some of you want to be an architect when you grow up.
But what kind of buildings are they designing? They are designing buildings while keeping both sustainability and the quality of life in mind. There’s a phrase there: keep something in mind. That means to remember it or think about it while you make another decision, right?
That’s right! This is often how we use this phrase. When you decide how to handle the situation, please keep his feelings in mind. That means you need to remember his feelings or think about his feelings when you make your decision. We’re talking about sustainability here. That’s the idea of how long you can do something and maintain the same quality.
When we’re talking about sustainability in terms of the environment, we’re often talking about keeping the resources on the planet safe. And when we’re talking about quality of life, we are specifically talking about the way humans live—that they have enough food, that they have enough clothing, and that their standard of living is at an acceptable level.
Sometimes, when we talk about the quality of living for buildings, one thing that comes to mind is how hot or how cold does the building get, right? What kind of air conditioning does a building use? Does it even have AC? We’ll talk a little bit more about these things as we read on, but we learn here that the term green building can refer to one of these structures or the process of constructing them.
We’ll learn what a structure is in the next section of our reading, so let’s go and do that together.
Green Building Any structure is considered a green building if it fits certain criteria. Most of these criteria have to do with environmental concerns, especially those related to climate change. For example, green buildings are made of sustainable materials and use water and energy efficiently, as well as renewable energy sources. Green building advocates do care about the humans involved, though. One of the criteria is that the building will improve its occupants quality of life.
接下來看Criteria這個複數名詞，它的單數是criterion，意思是標準或條件。例如: when choosing a new computer, Jeremy considered various criteria such as power, battery life, and screen size. 選擇新電腦時，Jeremy考慮了各種條件，如功率，電池壽命和螢幕大小。或者: to ensure a fair competition, the art contest established clear criteria for judging entries. 為了確保比賽的公平性，這個美術比賽制定了明確的評判標準。
或者是: the job listing listed specific criteria for whoever was hired for the job. 這個招聘提示列出了應聘者的具體標準。
再來看advocate，這個字當名詞的時候發音是advocate，意思是倡導者或擁護者。例如: as her child’s advocate, Vivian ensured that the doctor understood what his problems were. 作為孩子的代言人，Vivian確保醫生了解孩子的問題所在。或者: Dr. Jones, an advocate for animal safety, campaigned for stricter rules regarding the use of animals in the testing of products. Jones博士是動物安全的倡導者，他發起在產品測試中使用動物的規則應更加嚴格的活動。
Advocate當動詞的時候，請注意它的發音就變成advocate，意思是提倡或主張，比如: the article advocates making critical thinking and problem-solving skills a priority of every student’s education. 該文章主張將批判性思考和解決問題的能力作為每個學生教育的優先重點。
Thank you so much, Jack! All right, we did see that word structure in this reading, friends. We saw any structure is considered a green building if it fits certain criteria. Okay, so let’s define structure. A structure is normally a building, but it’s a building or an object that has been made with different parts. So, for example, if you put a rock in your yard, it’s not really a structure. But if you build a little house or an archway with rocks, that would be considered a structure.
And that word criteria—we’ve already learned about the different things that something has to meet. We read here, though, that most of these criteria have to do with environmental concerns, especially something in particular.
That’s right! Especially those related to climate change. Okay, here’s a key term for you, friends, for our article today: climate change is long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. So this is the idea that the weather has been a certain way or the temperature has been a certain way traditionally in a certain area all over the world.
But now, because of different issues, the weather is changing, and temperatures are going up. Okay, so for example, green buildings are made of sustainable materials and use water and energy efficiently, as well as renewable energy sources.
Okay, there’s another word that you need to know, right, Ann Marie? Efficiently! To do something efficiently means to achieve maximum productivity with minimal wasted effort.
I see. And so, we often see that word with energy. Something is energy-efficient, like an energy-efficient air conditioner. You can also say, "Wow, you really finished that project so efficiently. You did it quickly and well." But here, we’re talking about being efficient with the energy you use as part of trying to save the planet.
Okay, so green building advocates do care about the humans involved. One of the criteria is that the building will improve its occupants quality of life. Okay, so the idea behind green building is that it’s going to be good for the environment but also good for the occupants quality of life.
Now, when we’re talking about occupants, we’re talking about people, right?
That’s right! You know, you can actually use it for animals too. If you’re talking about the occupants of a hamster cage, they’re squeaking at me. So, something that is an occupant is something that lives in a building or a structure. But normally, we’re talking about people. You know, the occupants of the hotel had to run out during the earthquake.
That’s right! Another example could be, we moved into our apartment right after the previous occupants moved out—the people that were in there before. And there’s another word that sounds a little bit similar for things that aren’t alive, and that’s contents. So you could say, "The contents of this box sound noisy," but that’s different from saying, "The occupants of this box are going to sound noisy." That would imply something alive. So occupants refer to living things, while contents refer to non-living things.
Yeah, okay. All right, friends, we have more to learn in just a moment. Right now, let’s go to today’s Info Cloud.
Hello friends! Welcome to Info Cloud.
Hey Rex, I heard you and some of our coworkers went over to Mike’s house for a surprise party. How did it go?
Not very well.
What? How come? I thought he was going to be happy to see you guys. What happened?
Well, Mike really enjoys his privacy and doesn’t appreciate visitors to his house. You know, every man’s home is his castle.
Wow, I didn’t know Mike was such a private person.
You just used a very interesting expression, Rex: every man’s home is his castle.
Every man’s home is his castle implies that no matter what your position in the world, everyone can feel like a king or queen in their own home, and they are willing to do a lot to protect that. It also means that a person’s home is their own special world and is very important to them.
every man’s home is his castle 現在有很多人不喜歡出門，只喜歡整天在家。今天要跟大家介紹一個相關的用語：every man’s home is his castle。字面上就是男人的家是他的城堡，這是在表達一個男人的家是他的世界，他不希望有任何人來到他家指指點點的，因為他才是主人。例如，一個人在外面租房子，媽媽突然出現，然後開始打掃他的家，這個人感到自己的空間被闖入了，他就可以跟媽媽說，"every man’s home is his castle"，要媽媽尊重他。這就是今天的Info Cloud，我們下次雲端見。
Green Building Sometimes a single feature contributes to more than one criterion. For example, many green buildings have large windows, which save energy on lighting, but natural light also has health benefits for humans, such as increasing vitamin D production, improving sleep, and reducing seasonal depression. These windows thus kill two birds with one stone—saving energy and keeping people healthy. The construction process for a green building should also have minimal environmental impact. This means it should be energy efficient, avoid pollution, and minimize waste.
最後來看形容詞，minimal意思是極小的、極少的，例如: "The garden received minimal sunlight, limiting the variety of plants that would grow successfully." 花園曬到的陽光不多，限制了生長的植物種類。或者: "Sabrina’s minimal explanation of why she was late didn’t satisfy her manager." Sabrina對自己遲到的原因並沒有做過多的解釋，讓她的主管不滿意。
Minimal的副詞是minimally，意思是最低限度的，例如: "Minimally decorated rooms showed off the natural beauty of the castle." 裝潢簡約的房間顯出城堡的自然之美。
Okay, thank you, Jack! Well, we see here that sometimes a single feature contributes to more than one criterion. Okay, so we’re talking about features of these green buildings, right?
Yes, that’s right! A feature is an attribute or a part of something. Sometimes you talk about your facial features, like your eyes or your nose; those are your features. But here, the features of a building are just the parts of it.
Yeah, exactly! For example, you could say, "The most interesting feature in that room is the beautiful windows." So that means that the most prominent or interesting thing in the room is the windows. That’s one of the rooms features.
For example, many green buildings have large windows, which save energy on lighting, but natural light also has health benefits for humans, such as increasing vitamin D production, improving sleep, and reducing seasonal depression.
Okay, so larger windows are going to help your energy usage, but they’re also good for people mentally.
Yes! And you know, seasonal depression—what is that?
That is something that people get when the weather changes, and normally there’s less sunlight. I feel like I totally get seasonal depression when winter happens. I love the sun, and I can just feel that I have much lower energy in the winter.
This happens to a lot of different people.
I think so! Especially for students. Just know that it’s kind of normal if it’s the winter season, you’re spending a lot of time indoors anyway, and you just feel a little bit down.
Like, it doesn’t necessarily mean that anything’s wrong with your heart; it’s just that your body is kind of low battery for a season.
Sometimes, definitely! And there is an official name for this as well. They actually call it SAD—Seasonal Affective Disorder—is the official name for seasonal depression.
But what can help with seasonal depression? Getting more sunlight! Getting that vitamin D. Large windows in these green buildings can help with that. These windows thus kill two birds with one stone—saving energy and keeping people healthy.
So we have this great phrase: to kill two birds with one stone. That just means that you’re achieving two things in a single action.
We’ve got that phrase in Chinese too; I think it’s "一石二鳥," though. But "two birds with one stone" is nice when you can do two things at the same time.
There’s also that little word "thus" that you should know. It just means "this way." Sometimes it’s a bit of a fancier way to say "this way." So we save energy and we keep people healthy—that’s two birds with one stone.
That’s right! Okay, so we’re not only talking about the building after it has been completed, but right now we’re going to take a look at what the building is like as it’s being built.
So the construction process for a green building should also have minimal environmental impact.
Jon, anytime there’s construction in my neighborhood, there is a huge impact!
Yes, because they block the road, it’s noisy all the time, and this has a huge impact on people’s mental well-being.
And I can imagine it also has an impact on the environment as well.
It does! It takes a lot of water, and sometimes there’s noise that scares away animals—all kinds of things. A few weeks ago, I think earlier this month, you might have joined us for our article on deep-sea mining, and we learned that moving things around can really hurt nature.
But how can architects think differently about buildings? Well, we read together here: it means it should be energy efficient, avoid pollution, and minimize waste.
Pollution means getting the environment dirty, but if you minimize something, that means to reduce it. The opposite of that word, minimize, is maximize—to increase something—and waste means trash. So we always want to minimize trash.
That’s right! We want to minimize bad things and maximize good things.
Right! Now, let’s maximize our fun, friends, with today’s fun fact!
Hello, fact friends! I am Detective Ernest Finder, and I have a fun green fact for you today. Did you know that one of the world’s first green buildings was called a dugout?
What is a dugout?
Well, you do dig it! Actually, it was a house dug out of the side of a hill with grass on the top—very green and cool in the summer. Also sort of dirty, but that is today’s fun green fact!
It’s the end of our lesson, friends. That means it’s time for a quiz! Put those magazines away; don’t look at your notes.
Okay! Are you ready?
No.
Oh, are you ready?
Now yes!
Okay, here we go! Here’s the quiz: A person who designs a building is called what? Are they called a builder, are they called an architect, or are they called a carpenter?
Oh, that’s easy! A building is made by a builder.
There is a more technical word that we learned in our article today. I was actually just kidding; it’s the word architect. An architect is the person who designs the building. A builder is the person that puts it together.
That’s a good differentiation!
So those two words are a little bit different, friends. In this situation, the person who designs a building is called an architect. I hope you got that right, friends!
We’re not done talking about green building, so make sure you come back tomorrow and join us. We’ll see you then right here on Studio Classroom!
Green Building 綠色建築(下) 空中英語教室 20241019
修正下文英文文法，但是保留其中的中文，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文
Sure! Here’s the text with corrected grammar and simplified Chinese converted to traditional Chinese:
Hello friends and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Ann Marie, and this is my friend John.
Today is a great day to learn something new, so let’s do that together!
We are on day two of our article called "Green Building."
Let’s review a little bit about what we learned yesterday.
Okay, so a green building is not just a green-colored building; it’s a building that is meant to be sustainable.
Sustainable means it’s good for the environment and for the long term.
After a long time, it doesn’t begin to hurt the environment—thats right!
This includes several different things.
Green buildings are good for the environment, and they are good for people.
Not only are the buildings good for the environment, but once they’re built, the construction process of the buildings is also supposed to be good for the environment.
Yeah, and we actually learned a fun phrase for that: "to kill two birds with one stone."
That means you do one thing, but it gets two hopefully positive effects.
That’s right! We’re not done learning about green building, friends, so let’s get right into the second part of our article.
The World Green Building Council is an organization with branches all over the world that collaborates with businesses, organizations, and governments to encourage green building.
Its website lists numerous examples of green buildings and highlights some of the features that made them successful.
These buildings include residences, office buildings, and more.
Hi everyone, welcome to Language Lab! I’m Jack.
我們先來看“collaborate”這個動詞，意思是合作。
例如，來自五個不同國家的音樂家合作製作了一張專輯，將他們的獨特風格融合在一起。
或是，鄰居們通力合作，為附近的孩子們將一塊空地變成了遊樂場。
或是，全世界的學生可以在線上合作專案。
再來看“residents”這個名詞，意思是住所。
例如，這個城市提供從高層公寓到獨棟住宅的各種住宅。
或是，經過多年的儲蓄，這對夫妻俩終於買下夢寐以求的住宅，位於美麗湖邊。
與“residents”相關的名詞是“resident”，意思是居民。
譬如，居民們擔心最近的搶劫事件，便聚集在一起開會討論如何改善社區安全。
All right, thank you so much, Jack.
Well, friends, we begin reading right here: the World Green Building Council is an organization with branches all over the world.
Let’s stop there for a minute and talk about the idea of a company or an organization having branches.
What this means is that there are offices or sections of a group, and those together form a large business.
It comes from a tree, right? A tree has a center trunk, and then it has branches that kind of shoot out from the main part.
So you could also say, "Yeah, my office has a lot of branches," or even, "My college has different branches or campuses around the world."
That’s right!
So these branches all over the world collaborate with businesses, organizations, and governments to encourage more green building.
The website of the World Green Building Council lists numerous examples of green buildings.
Okay, so there are a lot of different examples on this website, and the word that we’ve used to talk about a lot is “numerous.”
Yeah, it means a really big number or very many. You see that “num” in “numerous”? That’s short for "number."
So there’s just a great number of examples of these green buildings—pretty cool!
And we also read here that the World Green Building Council highlights some of the features that made them successful.
So these are good examples, yes?
So this word “highlights” here means to focus on something or to feature something that’s a part of something else.
For example, when I travel to a new city, I like to ask any friends that live there, “Could you highlight some of your favorite things to do in this city?”
Of course, there are a lot of other things to do in this city, but I would like to know the things that are featured or the most important.
Yeah, this is a really useful word—not just as a verb but also as a noun.
I’m sure if you’re a student, you’ve bought a highlighter at some point.
That’s a little marker that draws in a very bright color where you can still see the words underneath.
Well, wherever you highlight, right?
Do you use highlighters?
I do use highlighters.
And just to make a note, friends, we don’t ever call highlighters "pens."
We do consider them to be two totally different things, yeah, because you don’t write words with a highlighter; you highlight things with a highlighter.
So it is a different type of tool.
Yeah, and there’s one last use of that word “highlight” as a noun: you could say this part of a trip or something was the highlight.
So I could say, “Oh, going to the Eiffel Tower was the highlight of my trip to Paris.”
I just thought of another use for that word too, though—yeah, because sometimes people get highlights in their hair.
Yeah, that’s right!
So this is another use of this word as a noun.
This is when people get little pieces of hair—not their whole head dyed, but just little pieces of hair dyed in a brighter color or in a lighter color than their original hair color.
It’s pretty cool! So again, it has that word "light" in there—normally something that’s bright.
And there are lots of different uses.
We also have another word here: “features.”
And we talked about that yesterday.
I believe features are just different parts of something.
And then there’s that word "successful," which means something really works well.
That’s right! So here we’re seeing that these buildings listed on the website include residences, office buildings, and more.
So I get the idea that when we are building green buildings or designing them, we’re not just talking about places where people live; it could also be where people work or shop or do other things as well.
We will get into that a little bit more in just a moment.
Let’s do it in our next reading:
Green Building
One example is a commercial building in Hong Kong that includes numerous features that employ new technology to improve its occupants well-being.
For example, they cool the building using chilled beams rather than air vents, thus eliminating uncomfortable drafts.
In addition to conventional air filters, they also used a paint that purifies the air, improving air quality in the building beyond what a filter could do alone.
接下來看動詞“purify”，意思是淨化。
例如，這個水處理廠淨化城市的水，確保它是安全可飲用的。
或是，科學家的發明旨在透過過濾有害污染物來淨化空氣。
“Purified”的名詞是“purification”。
例如，將水煮沸分鐘是一種簡單的淨化方法，因為它能夠消滅有害的細菌。
All right, thank you so much, Jack.
Well, let’s look at some examples of green buildings here, friends.
One example is a commercial building in Hong Kong that includes numerous features that employ new technology to improve its occupants well-being.
Let’s look at a few of these words here.
First of all, we see that word “commercial.”
You might think of a commercial as some type of advertisement that you see on TV.
Here, the word “commercial” is just referring to something that is concerned with or engaged in commerce—so selling, trading, and things like that.
That’s right!
So things that have to do with trading or commerce—you could say, “The commercial agreement between the two countries helped them to trade better.”
It was an agreement about commerce.
All right, well, we read that this is in Hong Kong, and it has numerous features that employ new technology to improve its occupants well-being.
“Employ” normally makes me think of hiring someone for a job, but it’s a little different here.
Here, the word “employ” just means to make use of, so another way to read this sentence would be, “It includes numerous features that make use of new technology.”
Yeah, you can use this with technology or other things.
You could say, “I employed the new software on my computer.”
That’s right!
So the reason that new technology is being employed is to improve its occupants well-being.
Remember, we talked about that word “occupants” in yesterday’s lesson.
“Occupants” just refers to the people or animals that are inside a given space or a given building.
Yeah, that’s right!
So now let’s get into some of the features.
This is really interesting to me! For example, we read they cool the building using chilled beams rather than air vents, thus eliminating uncomfortable drafts.
Okay, there’s a word “beam” there.
Sometimes we talk about sunbeams, like rays or lines of light coming from the sun.
But here, a “beam” means a long, strong, squared-off piece of wood or metal that supports the roof or the floor of a building.
In some buildings, you can still see those big beams, right?
Yeah, that’s right!
And so these beams here are chilled.
So something is chilled; it means that it has been made colder.
Very interesting!
I wonder how that works.
What this replaces is air vents, so a lot of places do have air vents, which is basically a way for air to flow through a building, right?
Yeah, it’s really important—it’s a way to bring fresh air into a closed space.
And so these vents are these openings for air, normally for things like air conditioning or heating.
But we learned that these chilled or cold beams eliminate uncomfortable drafts.
If you eliminate something, it means you get rid of it; sometimes you get rid of the need for it completely.
Yeah, so for example, a lot of people are trying to eliminate their use of single-use plastics.
So when you go out and get something to eat, single-use chopsticks or plastic forks, it’s a good idea to eliminate using those.
That’s right!
Well, let’s read on here—what are some other features of these green buildings?
We read, “In addition to conventional air filters, they also used a paint that purifies the air,” and we read, “improving air quality in the building beyond what a filter could do alone.”
So if something’s conventional, it means it’s the normal way something is done. But now you have a paint that purifies, and wow! What do you think about that? I’ve never heard of this before. I didn’t know paint could do that. Now, this is a very interesting example that we’ve just read through, friends. We have another example we’re going to look at, but first, let’s go to today’s Info Cloud.
Hello, friends! Welcome to Info Cloud. I had a chance to go to our coworker Andy’s apartment last weekend. I had a great time, and he has a very nice place. Did you know that his apartment is social housing? Yes, I was surprised at how nice it is! That was my first time visiting a social housing apartment. Social housing is housing that is provided by the government, usually at a very low cost. It is supposed to help certain groups of people in our society. Social housing is usually for people with special needs or from lower-income families. Because of the low cost to live there, it is also difficult to get the rights to live there because so many people want to apply. There is only so much housing the government can provide. Although social housing is designed to help people get affordable housing, it is sometimes used by the government as a policy to discourage high housing prices in the market.
social housing 大部分的國家都有針對弱勢族群所提供的社會住宅，也就是社會住宅或是國民住宅。社會住宅的目的就是為了讓民眾可以享有低於市價的住所，也是各國政府所提供的社會福利之一。社會住宅在不同的國家有不同的名稱，美國稱之為affordable housing，在新加坡或是馬來西亞叫做組屋，在日本叫做公營住宅，在香港叫做公共屋邨簡稱公屋等等。社會住宅有時候會成為政府抑制房價的策略，只不過效果非常有限。這就是今天的 Info Cloud，我們下次雲端見。
Green building in El Paraiso, Colombia, a social housing project followed green building standards while also providing much-needed housing in an area with a housing shortage. Most residents own the homes and are allowed to make improvements to them. The buildings are designed with natural ventilation systems that keep them at a comfortable temperature while also reducing problems from air pollution and mold. During construction, most of the waste that was produced was either recycled or composted. These are just a few of the many green building projects around the world, which improve conditions for both humans and the environment. 最後來看名詞 "shortage"，意思是短缺。例如，the lack of rainfall caused a shortage of water in the region. 降雨不足導致該地區缺水。或是 the sudden demand for bicycles due to rising gas prices led to a shortage of certain models. 由於油價上漲，對自行車的需求驟增，導致某些型號的自行車供不應求。推動了經濟適用房的短缺，使得低收入戶很難找到合適的住處。
All right, now it’s time to talk about another green building in Colombia. In El Paraiso, Colombia, a social housing project followed green building standards while also providing much-needed housing in an area with a housing shortage. This is great! So what is social housing? Let’s talk about that first. Social housing is housing provided for people on low incomes or with particular needs, and these houses are usually provided by the government or some other type of organization.
That’s right! It’s a way to provide people with good housing. We also read here that most residents own the homes. That means they’re not renting; it belongs to them, which is really cool. And we read they are allowed to make improvements to them. Then we read a little bit more about the buildings themselves.
So what makes these buildings so green, Emory? Well, these buildings are designed with natural ventilation systems. We were talking about air vents in a previous section here, and the idea with air vents is that they allow for airflow and ventilation to go through a building. Yeah, that’s right! So it’s a system that really keeps things fresh because inside a building, the air can get stale sometimes. That word "stale" is the opposite of fresh; we use that for food, especially bread, a lot, but you can also use it for air, right?
Yes, definitely. Here’s a question: This is a gross question. Have you ever been in a bathroom before that had poor ventilation? No air vents, no windows? Yeah, that air gets really, really stale and stagnant, right? So good ventilation in places, especially like bathrooms, is really important. These natural ventilation systems keep them at a comfortable temperature while also reducing problems from air pollution and mold. Mold is the worst! Mold is a furry growth of miniature fungi, and this usually happens when places are warm and damp, and that air is very stagnant.
Yeah, I know mold is a big problem, especially in places that are more tropical. They are warm and moist, as you say, so mold and air pollution—okay, this ventilation system sounds like a good idea. We also read that during construction, most of the waste or garbage that was produced was either recycled or composted. Okay, it’s really important that the building process is also green. We learned that yesterday.
Exactly, because this can affect people who live in the area. It can affect the trees and vegetation in the area, and also construction produces a lot of waste, right? You get the materials shipped in; maybe those materials are wrapped in plastic or things like that. So the idea here is that the waste that was produced from the construction was able to be composted. Now, composting is something that’s really interesting.
Yeah, it means to literally turn things into dirt again. So a lot of things, like cardboard and paper, can be composted. Sometimes homes will have what’s called a compost bin, and that’s like a special container to put food in, and it slowly becomes dirt. Yeah, we had a compost pile when I was growing up. I grew up on more of a farm-type piece of land, and so we had a lot of room. When we had food scraps or things like that, we would put them on what we called the compost pile.
Neat! Well, we learned that this building sounds pretty green, and last of all, we read together: these are just a few of the many green building projects around the world, which improve conditions for both humans and the environment. Well, it sounds pretty cool. Now it’s time to go to our fun fact!
Hello, fact friends! I am Detective Ernest Finder, and I have a fun fact for you today. Did you know that some animals make homes that are pretty green? It’s true! One tiny animal called the termite builds big towers out of mud called termite mounds. Termites are like ants and eat wood. You don’t want termites in your home, so it’s good that they build their own homes sometimes. And that is today’s fun green home fact!
Let’s look at our “Talk About It” question as we finish out this article, friends. Here we go: If you were to design a green building, what are some features you would include? John, how would you answer this question?
Well, it’s hard to be an architect, but maybe if I designed a green building, I’d try to put in a lot of big windows to let in sunlight. That’s one tip that we read about yesterday, I believe, and it could really help with seasonal depression on those dark days. I love to get as much sunlight as possible.
That sounds like a great idea! Friends, how would you answer this question? Would you like to design a green building someday? Talk about that in English, and we’ll see you next time right here on Studio Classroom!
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