The Emirates Environmental Group ( EEG ) held a community lecture on "Assessment of sustainable building materials' on 24th April . As a long time member of EEG , I have always attended these informative lectures as these are a great source of learning for children . Now that I am the Regional Ambassador for TUNZA Ecogeneration, it is of greater importance for me to attend and gather information from these lectures so that I can then share this information on this portal for all members to know and imbibe .

Green buildings are the way of the future but are quite expensive and require a great deal of work and assessment on the types of materials used . This was the theme of this lecture and the audience was informed about the detailed steps of assessment and testing that materials go through before being 'green certified' . To summarise , a green building is one that is designed to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by:

• Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources
• Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity
• Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation