These days a green building means more than just the color of the paint. Green building can also refer to environmentally friendly houses, factories, and offices.
Green building means “reducing the impact of the building on the land”, Taryn Holowka of the U. S. Green Building Council in Washington, D. C. said. According to Holowka, building account for 65 percent of total U. S. electricity use.
But green building can reduce energy and water use. Also, the buildings are often located near public transportation such as buses and subways, so that people can drive their cars less. That could be good for the environment, because cars use lots of gas and give off pollution. Green buildings are often built on developed land, so that the buildings don’t destroy forests.
Marty Dettling is the project manger for a building that put these ideas into action. The Solaire has been called the country’s first green high-rise building. According to Dettling, “We’ve reduced our energy use by one-third and our water by 50 percent.”
The Solaire cuts energy in part by using solar power. “On the face of the building we have solar panels which change the sun’s energy into electricity,” Dettling explained. The Solaire also has lights that automatically turn off when people leave the room. In addition, the building has lots of windows, allowing people to use the sun for light during the day. The Solaire cuts water by reusing it.
Not everyone is eager to move into a green building, however. Some people think that things like solar panels cost more money than more traditional energy sources. Anyhow, Holowka said, “It’s going to be big.”
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Winter break was approaching, and all Scott wanted to do was go snowboarding. Unfortunately, Scott's parents had different plans. They had booked a weeklong tropical cruise (热带船游). Scott hated warm weather and asked if he could just stay at his best friend's house so he could snowboard every day at the local mountain. His parents didn't want to hear anything of it. He kept debating them about the topic, but they would not change their minds. Family time was important to them, and it was tradition that they spend winter break together.
The week of the cruise arrived, and Scott continued to mumble (咕哝) his complaints as he and his family left their house to head south. Scott's dad told him that he would only make the vacation worse for himself if he didn't change his attitude and open his mind to a new experience. Scott still couldn't stop thinking about all of the snow he was leaving behind.
When they arrived at the port to board the ship, Scott had a hard time admitting that he was actually impressed with the size of the ship. He had seen the brochures but seeing the ship in person was a whole different animal. Then he remembered that the brochure said something about a surfing pool. Maybe surfing would be somewhat like snowboarding. After all, it involved riding a board.
Scott climbed aboard the ship with his parents, and then they walked around to check everything out. He couldn't believe how fancy the accommodations were. The dining room looked like a royal hall; the game room had all of his favorite games; the ship's deck (甲板) had several different swimming pools for different purposes. Then Scott saw the surfing pool. It was incredible. It wasn't a big pool, but it had big waves, and the young man who was demonstrating how to ride the waves made it look like a ton of fun.
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Scott asked his parents if he could try surfing.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Gradually, Scott began to love the cruise.
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