What Makes a Family an Example by

What Makes a Family? A family can be defined as a communal unit living collectively, in human visualization, a family is a comprehensive group of individuals or people sharing a close relationship which compromises of a mated couple including their offsprings. In essence, families form generations-each family matures to a point of gaining self sufficiency translating the subsequent generation is equally able to provide for itself. Others aspects that are linked to the formation of a family include culture,affinity,friendship,economy,tradition as well as honor which are in nature metaphorical, growing progressively to form nationhood and hence humanity. As units of socialization and fundamental institutions crucial too the structure of society, the family is the key subject of study sociologists. Need essay sample on "What Makes a Family?" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed However, the most often asked question is what makes a family? According to Dr.Hutter (2001), he argues that The family is the nucleus of American life. Examining the context of American family, it would be instrumental to understand that, due to the changing landscapes of social life, the conventional concept of a family have acquired a new dimension and meaning. This trend is being allied to such factors as, the increasing rate of single mothers, single fathers, gay and lesbian families among others. Thus, examining the context of what makes a family in American context Dr.Hutter asserts that, Money can assuage many of the stresses of everyday family life, to be sure. But it's not the panacea for shaping a successful family. The process must involve nurturing and support, as well as control and guidance of children. Affluent parents who are neglectful cannot overcome that neglect of their children with money (2001). Comparing this stance with the article Dads Role Redefined in the U.S. Household (2001),it is apparent that, American family is undergoing unstoppable metamorphosis, this is due to the fact that, traditional tenets are being replaced by instances where the family is being viewed from a different approach.traditionally,man was often viewed as the bread winner, but due to the changing social, political and economic spheres, equally women are also being involved in the equally position as men, hence the article Dads Role Redefined in the U.S. Household infers womens new options are good not just for themselves but for their children as well (2001). Despite dissimilar instances where the American families are seen to be impacted by happenstances of separation and divorce, the two articles provides a profound insight into what real makes the American family. Therefore, it ids essential to assert that despite the scope of raising children and having financial stability to cater for the family, the two articles posits that, affection and being there for each other greatly contributes to the fundamental aspects of sustaining a family. As is established in the article What Makes a Family? the author states Successful parents and victorious children often result from an understanding of the different positions and perspectives they maintain. Parents and children must be sensitive to each other's respective concerns. Here, too, an atmosphere of understanding and sharing must prevail. Family members must accept the fact that life extends beyond the family for each of its members. This outside or other life must also be taken into consideration as one deal with another (Hutter, 2001). By integrating the two articles, it is essential to point to the point that, in America today, there is a ranging debate on what really constitutes a family, and it is from such an observation that it is established there is a broad margin splitting the American society. Traditionally, the American family compromised the father, mother daughter and son. Yet according to the author of Dads Role Redefined in the U.S. Household he notes that, people have changed, as well as the communities,meaning,stay at home mothers are becoming rare by day and in it wake, single parent homes are increasing significantly. Basically, by examining what makes an American family today, diverse aspects have to reconsidered in total, note that, in some instance, the mother or the grandmother could be the one taking up the role of the provider,disciplinarian,protector as well as being caregiver. While the entrance of the absentee father has taken the centre stage, and this has brought a new definition of what makes a family to a new level, where the exact definition cannot be comprehensive. Therefore, the article Dads Role Redefined in the U.S. Household unlike What Makes a Family? seems to portend that, the Americans are brought up to accept that the only way to embrace a family is to have in place all viable components that makes a family in place,however,time have changed and new challenges have been created. Therefore, as Hutter (2001) stated Contemporary society often demands a highly mobile group of workers who'll go where the jobs are. This desire to maximize economic opportunities often causes the breakdown of longstanding patterns of kinship interaction. In addition, the greater concern for individual advancement often takes precedence over interest in extended family ties and obligations. Reference Hutter, M. (2001, January). The American Family. U.S. Society & Values. An electronic journal of the U.S. Department of State, Vol. 6, No. 1,

Handy Tips to Help You Achieve a Higher Grade With the Right Balance Essay Sample

Handy Tips to Help You Achieve a Higher Grade With the Right Balance Essay SampleIf you have found the right balance essay samples for your college requirements, you are in luck. If not, you will need to get another set or choose the better essay samples that will get you into the college of your choice.The student needs to have a clear idea of what type of essays that they need to do and how they will be graded for each one. There are many tools that can help with this task but some of them are more flexible than others.The first step that a student needs to take is to find out what level the professor will be grading his or her essay. The student should think about what grade they would like to get and what level of work they would like to complete. The trick is to pick out an essay that will allow the student to achieve all the required grades.After the student has figured out what grade they want, it is time to get started on how to write the essay. It is important that the stude nt does not worry about how the essay will look or how much the student will put into the work. The most important thing is that the student writes something that is convincing.The better balance essay samples for college will have some format that will make it easy for the student to do the writing for the essay. The students will also need to do some research on themselves before they begin writing.Most of the balance papers contain facts and figures and examples that allow the student to gain an idea of what is expected of him or her to earn a grade of a C or a B. The student can then research any personal information that he or she needs to include in order to keep their grade as a C or B.In conclusion, if you want to go the extra mile for your college application and want to write essays for college, then you should get hold of some of the better essay samples for college. Whether you are a freshman, sophomore, or senior, it will help you achieve a higher grade if you focus on the work and the grades that you will be getting.

Free Essays on Catfish and Mandala

The book â€Å"Catfish and Mandala† by Andrew Pham relates a lot to include stories and situations throughout my childhood that I can relate toand young adult life. PhamHe vividly explains vividly his life in America along with his travels back to the homeland. Through his journey to Vietnam, Pham discovers himself and hisexplains to us his life, which in some cases is similar to the identity, issues regarding educational expectations, and cultural conflict in America here in America for me. Reading the book I see Pham and the situations he is put in, also seeing myself, but the only difference is the way he and I handle the scenarios given at hand. Through the essay you will see how our lives are similar but yet different. Pham travels to Vietname to search for his roots in hopes to construct his identity.For Pham in the search of his identity he flies to Vietnam to ride his bike, and also to find his roots. As he first gets off the airplane he is already is immediately receiving dirty aware of others who looklooksat him disdainfully because he is a â€Å"viet-kieu† which means foreign Vietnamese. Then as he is at the baggage claim While retrieving his luggage, to his amazement he sees the workers tear up his bike which had been stuck in the claim belt. That hit a soft spot in him because that bike had been through so much with Pham. From then on his impressions of Vietnamese people were bad, He developed a negative impression of Vietnamese people and he automatically thought of them as a lower class persons than Americans human than he was. Pham in order to go back to his roots needs to humble himself as a true Vietnamese. Then he will understand his identity and appreciate his culture. Growing up Korean in white America was different. As a child I was sometimes embarressedembarrassed to be Korean. I wanted to be white because then I knew I would have been more accepted by the majority population.n’t have as tough... Free Essays on Catfish and Mandala Free Essays on Catfish and Mandala The book â€Å"Catfish and Mandala† by Andrew Pham relates a lot to include stories and situations throughout my childhood that I can relate toand young adult life. PhamHe vividly explains vividly his life in America along with his travels back to the homeland. Through his journey to Vietnam, Pham discovers himself and hisexplains to us his life, which in some cases is similar to the identity, issues regarding educational expectations, and cultural conflict in America here in America for me. Reading the book I see Pham and the situations he is put in, also seeing myself, but the only difference is the way he and I handle the scenarios given at hand. Through the essay you will see how our lives are similar but yet different. Pham travels to Vietname to search for his roots in hopes to construct his identity.For Pham in the search of his identity he flies to Vietnam to ride his bike, and also to find his roots. As he first gets off the airplane he is already is immediately receiving dirty aware of others who looklooksat him disdainfully because he is a â€Å"viet-kieu† which means foreign Vietnamese. Then as he is at the baggage claim While retrieving his luggage, to his amazement he sees the workers tear up his bike which had been stuck in the claim belt. That hit a soft spot in him because that bike had been through so much with Pham. From then on his impressions of Vietnamese people were bad, He developed a negative impression of Vietnamese people and he automatically thought of them as a lower class persons than Americans human than he was. Pham in order to go back to his roots needs to humble himself as a true Vietnamese. Then he will understand his identity and appreciate his culture. Growing up Korean in white America was different. As a child I was sometimes embarressedembarrassed to be Korean. I wanted to be white because then I knew I would have been more accepted by the majority population.n’t have as tough...

5 Errors of Restriction

5 Errors of Restriction 5 Errors of Restriction 5 Errors of Restriction By Mark Nichol 1. â€Å"Bank of America’s purchase of Fleet Boston for $47 billion will create the biggest bank in the United States with thirty-three million customers.† The lack of punctuation in this sentence invites the impression that of all the banks in the United States with thirty-three million customers, the Bank of America will be the largest. But the last phrase merely refers to the size of the customer base after the merger. This additional information should be set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma: â€Å"Bank of America’s purchase of Fleet Boston for $47 billion will create the biggest bank in the United States, with thirty-three million customers.† Alternatively, the information can be inserted parenthetically into the middle of the sentence: â€Å"Bank of America’s purchase of Fleet Boston for $47 billion, which boosts its customer base to thirty-three million, will create the biggest bank in the United States.† 2. â€Å"Take a visit to the military test kitchen where bad grub is taken very seriously.† The implication here is that among military test kitchens, the one in question is the only one that focuses on bad food. However, it’s quite likely there’s only one military test kitchen, a fact this sentence indicates by the simple insertion of a comma: â€Å"Take a visit to the military test kitchen, where bad grub is taken very seriously.† (If there is more than one, the implied multiplicity of kitchens is distracting; a simple change of the article preceding the noun phrase will remove the obstacle: â€Å"Take a visit to a military test kitchen where bad grub is taken very seriously.†) 3. â€Å"Yesterday, ChevronTexaco announced the deal that’s expected to be complete within six months.† The reader might get the impression that of two or more deals, this one’s expected to take up to six months to complete. But there’s only one deal, and it should be complete within six months. To communicate that information, set the time frame apart from the phrase about the announcement, and change that to which: â€Å"Yesterday, ChevronTexaco announced the deal, which is expected to be complete within six months.† 4. â€Å"Daniel Libeskind is the architect of the proposed $43 million Contemporary Jewish Museum project in San Francisco that will begin construction next year.† This example is less likely than the previous one to confuse readers about the number of similar events expected to occur; it’s unlikely that anyone will assume that more than one museum project is in the offing. However, the sentence is constructed so that such distraction is possible. To clarify, undertake the same revision as in the example above: â€Å"Daniel Libeskind is the architect of the proposed $43 million Contemporary Jewish Museum project in San Francisco, which will begin construction next year.† 5. â€Å"The company’s incident-response can quickly and reliably identify events, which threaten an organization’s security posture.† Note that this sentence, by contrast, errs in the other direction: The wording and punctuation implies that all events are a threat to the organization’s security posture. But the sentence intends to refer to a restricted type of events, so it should be worded to convey that meaning: â€Å"The company’s incident-response can quickly and reliably identify events that threaten an organization’s security posture.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Exquisite AdjectivesTime Words: Era, Epoch, and EonCapitalizing Titles of People and Groups

THE INFORMATION ECONOMY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

THE INFORMATION ECONOMY - Essay Example Further the globalization of the resources and effective use of ICT has allowed large organizations to build competitive advantages so that they can better compete into international market. India is one of the important emerging markets in the world which is showing fast improvements on most of the economic grounds. However, this rise of India on the world economic scene has been mostly due to its strong Information Technology skills development. India has been able to expand its IT and IT enabled services because of the strong government support as India government, historically, has invested into the educating young Indians within the domain of Information Technology. Mobile Phones have changed the economic activity because it has proved one of the rapid and cheapest sources of communicating for the Indians to conduct economic activities. Mobile Phones have been able to prove themselves more useful than computers because they provide quicker means of communicating. Mobiles Phones provide a quicker method of communicating between counter parties in trade. However this advancement in India has been made possible because of government of India’s efforts to invest and focus on IT education. Music industry is one of the largest industries in the world as Music is almost heard by every civilized human being living in the modern world. This industry has evolved over the period of time as starting from crude and old methods of recording music to the new and more modern methods such as media players and internet music channels. The emergence of high bandwidth communication technologies, emergence of internet companies, and online selling of digital music have allowed global music industry to evolve greatly as the it has not only allowed it to get exposure to maximum consumers but also it has become cheaper. The emergence of

Nursing Application Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nursing Application - Essay Example Some times I felt the need to assist but I lacked the capacity to do so because I was only a child. However, these occurrences usually strengthened my desire to acquire the capability to assist other people to overcome problems. From that time up to now when I am a grown-up, I still yearn to accomplish my childhood desires of becoming an expert in promoting people’s health and general well-being of children, adults including the healthy, the ailing and the aged. I have the conviction that becoming a nurse will empower me to accomplish my goals. I settled on the decision to apply to Dorothea Hopfer School of nursing came as a result of careful analysis regarding the various institutions that offer the program. I have met with a number of professionals in nursing as well as in other fields who graduated from the institution, and the positions that they hold in the local, as well as international organizations, are admirable. The institution has a good reputation, and local organ izations usually give the first priority to graduates from the institution. I believe that the skills that I need in nursing will be acquired through studying in the institution. I have never felt so right about accomplishing my goals through a particular institution the way I do now. I am ready to sacrifice as much time as the program requires. I have strong leadership and team building skills that enable me to learn quickly through interactions with other students. I actively participate in class and intend to continue with this practice in order to accomplish the best in my nursing studies. I feel privileged to present my application to this reputable institution where I believe my professional goals will be accomplished. I am looking forward to cooperating with the administration as well as my instructors to enhance my performance in studies.

Impact On The Natural Environment Construction Essay

Impact On The Natural Environment Construction Essay The building sector has a significant impact on the natural environment. It consumes almost 33 of the worlds natural resources, including 40 of its energy and up to 12% of its water. These estimates do not consider embodied energy (i.e. the energy used to obtain, manufacture, use and dispose of building materials), which can represent a significant proportion of a buildings lifetime energy consumption. The building sector is also responsible for 40% of global green-house gas (GHG) emissions and 40% of the waste which ends up in the landfills (World Green Building Council, 2006). The consumption of natural resources, particularly none-renewable energy sources, is an important factor in the economy of many nations. Authorative reports show such trends in many parts of the world. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the building sector consumes almost 50% of all the countrys energy. While in the United States, about 40% of the total national energy production and almost 70% of electrici ty production is used in the building sector, as well as 28% in transportation a factor which is partly influenced by urban design. The building sector in China currently accounts for 19% of the countrys total energy consumption. This relatively small percentage is due to energy intensive industrial production. The same scenario occurs in the rich oil-producing areas of the Gulf Corporation Council Countries (GCCC). For example, the building sector in Kuwait account for nearly 45% of the yearly electric energy consumption, whilst in Saudi Arabia this sector consumes about 70% of the total electricity consumption. In Bahrain, the smallest country within the GCCC, buildings account for 83% of the national consumption of electricity (EIA, 2010). Apart from its energy consumption, the building sector is also one of the largest contributors to changes in the environment and atmosphere: firstly, building construction, raw material processing and product manufacturing overall are the largest sources of GHGs. They account for some 40% of the world GHGs emissions. The building sector creates the most waste, habitat destruction and is responsible for the most pollution. Second, GHGs, particularly CO2, are the main by-product of fossil fuel energy consumption, and as buildings are, in total, among the largest consumers of energy, they are also the major contributor to the increase in CO2 emissions and hence global warming. While most available data related to these contributions are for the developed world, reports show that, on the whole, these contributions are worse in developing countries such as the GCCC. These countries have become major GHGs emitters. According to the International Panel of Climate Chang (2007), the GCCC are amongst the top countries in terms of CO2 emissions per capita. Recent statistics show an increase of CO2 emissions due to excessive energy consumption in different GCCC sectors, particularly the building sector. The increase in CO2 emissions had been within the range of 30-35% between 1997 and 2006. The GCCC are found to contribute two and half per cent of the global GHG emissions (United Nations Statistic Division, 2007). One of the main principles of the GCCC is to enhance the economic and environmental actions related to the adoption of policies and unifying environmental laws as well as the conservation of natural resources (GCC, 2008). Within this context a two-fold policy aims at promoting energy regulations and sustainable developments has been adopted. A major role has been given to the building sector, with a special focus on the important role that efficiency regulations can play in reducing energy consumption and protecting the environment. On the ground, some actions have been taken by the GCCC in order to achieve sustainability in buildings, such as the implementation of green building regulations. Most of these regulations are based on the USAs Green Building Councils (US GBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, with modifications made to account for the local environmental conditions. In terms of green construction, many attempts have been made in different parts of the GCCC. Examples can be seen in the Bahrain World Trade Centre in Manama, the large-scale Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, the campus of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and the Energy City in Qatar. These projects incorporate several efficiency techniques and green materials. A consideration of these huge, costly projects shows that three parties can benefit from such developments: governments and owners can save energy and protect the environment, thereby gaining a favourable image; contracto rs and suppliers can sell green products and developers can use the affirmative image as a positive marketing tool. However, in his article The Business of Green Elsheshtawy (2010) claims that some green and LEED certified buildings in the GCCC end up consuming much more energy than the evaluators predicted due to poor energy practices. Coupled with this is the economics of energy efficiency and green buildings. Cost of building green A great number of available projects, such as those mentioned above, shows that if building green is a target at the outset of the design process and material selection then the cost of the green building is competitive. In a commercial setting, such projects can result in reduced energy consumption, saved environment, improved occupant health and comfort and reduced capital costs. Many rigorous assessments show that the overall cost of these projects is no more than that of any equivalent conventional project. Increases in first cost are reported within the range from five-ten per cent. During the construction phase the use of the green strategies, such as downsizing of costly mechanical, electrical and structural systems can increase the saving in initial costs, while during the first two decades the increases due to the use of green technologies will result in a savings of at least ten times the initial investment in operation costs for utilities such as electricity. In rental pro perties, owners are concerned only with the initial cost, especially in the cases where tenants are paying the bills. Governments and some owners, however, can realise the energy savings and so are willing to pay more for minimising the operation cost and reducing the environmental impact. The trade-off between economic costs and environmental benefits can stimulate people on the basis that adoption of green technologies will have environmental and social benefits outside the margin of cost consideration. Although the concept of eco-efficiency, in many cases, does not take into account the social benefits, such an approach can balance environmental design with cost-effectiveness. To achieve eco-efficiency in the building sector, it is necessary to apply an integrated approach with the assistance of a team of professionals across different areas. This is realised in what is called the whole building approach. This approach represents a key factor in the design and construction of green buildings, especially with the advance of technology and increased complexity of constructional systems. The incorporation of the whole building approach at the projects conceptual design phase enables the evaluation of a buildings design, materials and systems from the perspectives of all the project team members as well as from the perspectives of owners and occupants. A principal advantage of this approach is the coordination and mutual dialogue between project team members, which represent a cornerstone for any successful projects. By applying the whole building approach initial and other cost savings can be realised, energy efficiency evaluated and environmental impact asse ssed. The role of cladding systems in making buildings green Green buildings are generally designed and built in an ecological and resources-efficient manner. They often respond to their local environment and, therefore, different building designs are found in different regions. In any region, however, the ultimate target of green buildings is to provide a comfortable environment in an economic way. The buildings skin, particularly building facade, represents the connection between the internal environment and the outside conditions, and hence a key function of the building facade is to reduce the need to modify the indoor environment as little as possible in response to the environmental load from the outdoor climate. Sometimes, a building facade fails to meet its objective due to one or more reasons, such as the insufficient design of wall systems or the inappropriate selection of cladding materials that probably make it impossible for any specific level of comfortable environment to be achieved. Then, it is necessary to rely upon electrical and mechanical systems to achieve comfort. This reliance leads to higher cost which is translated into bigger capacity requirements for lighting and mechanical equipment and higher capital costs for such equipment as well as larger amounts of energy consumption by the lighting system and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. In contrast, efficient environmental design and appropriate selection of green cladding materials can result in a comfortable inside environment, reduced project initial and running costs and a building that is energy and resource-efficient with lower operating costs than conventional buildings. Practitioners have demonstrated that the implementation of green strategies contributes to a buildings comfort, economic and energy performance. The use of green cladding systems, in particular, is able to make a significant impact on the thermal and operational performance of green buildings. Reports show that when green cladding systems are taken in to account at the conceptual design phase, significant improvements in the energy performance can be achieved (Radhi and Sharples, 2008). Aside from their influence on building operational energy, the external wall systems and cladding materials are major contributors to changes in the natural environment. The production of construction materials such as precast and aluminium increases atmospheric concentrations of GHGs. The environmental impact starts with the chemical reactions during the production phase, where such materials represent one of the largest source of CO2 emissions and other GHGs. Then, the transportation of the materials to construction sites consumes considerable amounts of primary energy and generates high levels of GHG emissions. At the installation phase these materials generate different types of waste, whilst at the operation phase some of them influence the interior and exterior spaces by producing unhealthy components into the air. Some construction materials have relatively short useful lives and, consequently, the disposal and manufacture of replacement materials occurs, thereby generating mo re GHGs and waste. Research experts have shown that a careful selection of low environmental impact components and materials reduces the CO2 emissions by up to 30%. Some cladding materials are reported to have the capacity to reduce ozone emissions and other sources of pollutants such as CO2 (Radhi, 2010). How can the eco-efficiency of cladding systems be measured? The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD, 2000) terms eco-efficiency as the synthesis of economic and environmental efficiency in parallel. Within this context, eco-efficiency in the building sector can be determined by three broad objectives: Reduce natural resources consumption by minimising the use of embodied and operational energy, raw materials, water and land as well as enhancing recyclability and material durability Reduce environmental impact by minimising GHGs emissions, waste disposal, water discharges and the dispersion of toxic substances, as well as encouraging the use of renewable resources. Increase the value of materials and systems by providing more benefits through material functionality, flexibility and modularity. In the light of these objectives the important question is how the eco-efficiency of cladding systems can be measured. Significant scientific work has been addressing this issue by introducing suitable assessment methodologies and rating systems. This is best seen in the environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and life-cycle cost (LCC) approaches developed by the international standards for LCA principles and framework ISO 14040 (ISO14040, 2006). Assessment is performed in four phases, including goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation. Two main approaches are available to classify and characterise environmental impacts. The first is the problem-oriented approach (mid-point). The second is the damage-oriented approach (end-point). A great number of methods have been developed under these two approaches such as the critical volumes (weighted load) and ecological scarcity (eco-points) systems in Switzerland, environmental priorities system in Sweden, eco-indicator 99 in Netherlands and the environmental problems system in the United States. The use of such methods makes it possible to select building systems and materials that achieve the most appropriate balance between environmental and economic performance based on certain values of the building team. Case study: assessing eco-efficiency of cladding systems in Bahrain The current assessment, based on the LCA of residential buildings (Radhi and Sharples, 2012), is performed to characterise the eco-efficiency of cladding systems in Bahrain. Bahrain is chosen as many of its building construction approaches and techniques are typical of those found in the GCCC. The production, construction, use and disposal of a 75 m2 front facade of a typical Bahraini house (Fig. 24.1), formed the basis of this assessment. Technically, the building facade consisted of two main components that included the wall system and cladding layers. The wall system is generally classified as cavity wall, barrier wall or mass wall (National Institute of Building Sciences, 2012). The cavity wall (sometimes called the screen wall system) is the preferred method of construction in many climatic regions due primarily to its ability to achieve pressure-equalisation. The barrier wall is an exterior wall system of assembly. The principal difference of this system is its ability to integ rate the surfaces of outermost exterior wall and construction joints, which can offer resistance to bulk moisture ingress. The mass wall relies principally upon a combination of wall thickness and storage capacity. Some fundamental differences exist among these systems such as the thermal performance, fire safety, moisture protection, acoustics, maintainability and material durability, and so consequently their impact on the environment. In terms of cladding, it is the exterior finish layer that is installed to cover wall systems and/or support structures. This finish layer serves several functions, including improving appearance, optimising thermal and environmental performance and keeping undesirable outdoor elements away. Today cladding systems are available in many forms and materials, which are often chosen based on economic and aesthetic factors. Structurally, the use of any alternatives of cladding determines the type of wall system and vice versa. The mass wall system, for example, can form structural elements or finished cladding systems. This system is commonly associated with plaster and masonry cladding systems. On the other hand, the barrier wall is used with precast concrete spandrel panels and some types of metal cladding systems such as composite and solid metal plate as well as with exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS). With the advance in building technology and construction materials, many alternatives of cladding systems are now available in the market. Examples are studied in the current work, namely, stucco, masonry veneer, marble, ceramic tile and the EIFS. Stucco is a hard, dense, thick and non-insulating material, such as cement plaster, that can be used to cover exterior wall surfaces. Both Portland cement and masonry cement are used with sand for the base and finish coats of stucco exterior walls. Unlike the ordinary stucco system, the EIFS (also known as synthetic stucco) is a lightweight synthetic wall cladding that includes foam plastic insulation and thin synthetic coatings. The masonry veneer is made from a mixture of Portland cement and aggregates under controlled conditions. It provides cladding and resists transferring wind and heat loads to the building support structure. The marble cladding system is a natural stone, while the ceramic tile cladding system consists of a mixture of clay and other ceramic materials. To improve environmental and thermal performance, recycled windshield glass is often added to the ceramic mix (Brookes and Meijs, 2008). These five cladding systems are assessed under real construction and thermal scenarios with the same wall system (mass wall), as illustrated in Fig. 24.2. To provide each scenario with the basic systems quantities per functional unit, the existing facade parameters and wall materials of the typical house are considered as a reference scenario, in addition to the operational aspects that are influenced by the building facade. Data inventory of cladding systems The LCA method and LCC technique are integrated to deliver a complete and detailed assessment of the overall potential impact of the typical house. An important point to note is that system and material selection based on a single impact could obscure other factors that might cause equal or greater damage. Therefore, the adopted LCA methodology takes a multidimensional life-cycle approach, in which multiple environmental impacts are considered over the entire life of the assessed cladding systems. To balance the assessment, the LCC is performed over a 60 year life span, and is based on published data and methods outlined in (Radhi 2010). Categories of expenditure typically include costs for purchase, installation, maintenance, repair and replacement. Measuring the economic performance is relatively straightforward by using real cost data collected through a field study. The data in question are the real cost data that occur and the subsequent cost, which will occur in the future. Normalisation is carried out in this work in order to present a more useful scale of measurement and to make comparisons of various systems simpler. Normalisation is an optional step in impact assessment and can be described as a form of benchmarking, where the flows of each environmental impact are first summed and then divided by fixed Bahraini scale impact values. This can yield measures that are placed in the context of Bahraini activity contributing to that impact. The placing of each measure in the context of its associated Bahraini impact measure makes it possible to reduce different values to the same scale and allows the comparison across impacts. The resulting performance measures are, thus, expressed in non-commensurate units. For credibility, the commercially available BEES model (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2007) for building construction materials coupled with the international inventory data (Hammond Jones, 2011) were used to compare and check. The BEES model is generally used to measure the environmental and energy performance of building products and facade materials using the life cycle assessment approach outlined in ISO standard 14040. Environmental impact assessment Given the desire to link environmental and economic performance through the concept of eco-efficiency, the ideal way is to base the eco-efficiency indicators on international agreement as far as possible. According to the framework of the United Nations (2006), the assessment of eco-efficiency includes various generic environmental issues such as energy use, global warming contribution, water use, ozone depletion substance and waste. From these indicators, energy consumption and CO2 emissions, water use and ecological toxicity are of the greatest relevance for this study. Fig. 24.3 compares these indicators with respect to the five studied cladding systems. Some of these systems, such as the marble cladding, have significant impacts on water use but moderate impacts on global warming and embodied energy. Other systems, such as stucco, have a significant impact on both the energy consumption and global warming but a minor impact on water use. The others, such as the EIFS, have a minor impact on different generic environmental issues. From the illustration, the EIFS system seems to be the best performer, followed by the ceramic tiles, marble and finally the brick. Stucco is found to be the least effective system in terms of energy consumption and ecological toxicity as well as in relation to CO2 emissions. This can be related to the large amounts of CO2 emissions during cement production, which is the main component of the plaster cladding system. Environmental versus economic When the overall environmental impact of the examined systems is considered, a different scenario occurs. The overall environmental performance is illustrated in Fig. 24.4. Two main observations can be highlighted: firstly, the overall environmental performance ranking of the five systems is different from single measures such energy use and global warming. The EIFS cladding system is the best environmental performer, whilst the ceramic tile system is the worst performer. The difference is more than 24 points. As systems with lower scores are greener, the EIFS cladding system is greener because it contributes, on average, 0.1% of annual per capita Bahrain environmental impacts, whilst the marble contributes a larger share, 0.35%. Secondly, the environmental performance ranking is different from that of the economic performance. The illustration shows that the economic impacts of cladding systems are various and different from the environmental impacts. For example, the stucco claddin g is illustrated as the best economic performer, but it is not in terms of the environmental performance. The difference in score is significant, being almost 11 points. This can be also seen in the case of the ceramic tile cladding. In contrast, the marble cladding achieves a high overall environmental performance and a low economic performance with a difference that reaches almost 21%. The EIFS cladding seems to have a balanced environmental and economic status. The same ranking occurs when both environmental and economic performance are estimated. By using the multi-attribute decision analysis technique, environmental indicators and the economic performance are combined into an overall performance measure (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2007). It is important to mention that the overall performance scores in this work are not indications of absolute performance. Rather, they are reflecting proportional differences in performance and representing relative performance among system alternatives. By following this procedure, these scores can be changed when the number of system alternatives are increased or reduced. The potential overall performance of the studied systems shows different scenarios when compared with the environmental and economic performances. The stucco cladding seems to be the most eco-efficient systems in spite of its poor environmental performance, followed by the EFIS system with a score of 29%, with the masonry veneer coming next. In contrast, the ceramic tile cladding is found to be the wor st with almost 50%, in spite of its moderate economic performance. Overall, different cladding systems have different environmental and economic performances. Some cladding materials improve the environmental performance, but provide a moderate influence in terms of economic performance, and vice versa. Others positively improve the environmental performance and can optimise the economic performance. Therefore, a careful eco-efficiency assessment should be undertaken in selecting wall cladding systems. Such an assessment can benefit the appraisal of green cladding systems and hence into the design decisions made in developing various scale of green buildings. Conclusion Todays modern buildings systems, particularly cladding system, are often selected and assessed based on aesthetics and cost rather than their environmental performance or their overall potential impact. The concept of eco-efficiency introduced in this book balances the environmental performance with economic aspects. This chapter presented a systematic eco-efficiency assessment of cladding systems and explored its role progressing a green future in the building sector. The interrelation between environmental indicators and economic performance was examined by comparing various cladding systems, considering both overall environmental impact indicators and life cycle cost. The differences in environmental indicators of various cladding systems, namely, stucco, masonry veneer, marble, ceramic tile and the EIFS systems, are generally significant. The ranking of these systems in terms of environmental and economic performance are different. Some of the cladding systems, such as the marble cladding, reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, but provide a minor reduction in terms of the life cycle cost, and vice versa. Others, such as the EFIS system, impact positively upon the environmental indicators and can optimise the overall potential impact. This system has the ability to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions; however, other aspects, such as maintenance and life expectancy, should be considered at the time of system selection. The scope of the current study focused on the eco-efficiency of representative residential cladding system in a developing country. Consequently, the outcome of this assessment may not be applied to buildings in countries with different economic and environmental situation. In spite of this shortcoming, this assessment approach may provide useful quantitative and qualitative information for cladding design decisions. Therefore, it is important to highlight some general notes: New green building technologies, such as the exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS), are effective cladding systems in promoting a green future in the residential building sector. To improve the overall potential impact, wall cladding systems in desert climate regions, such as Bahrain, can be designed as exterior insulation and finish systems. Every building is unique in both design and operation. Academic experts and practitioners benefiting from this work should consider the impact of related variables, and therefore a careful assessment must be performed during the selection process in order to achieve eco-efficiency in the building sector. In addition to its ability to assess building cladding systems, the eco-efficiency concept can be used with various other systems, materials and innovative applications. It can yield a precise assessment in the case of multifunctional problems in relatively short times and at relatively low cost. In the near future the concept of eco-efficiency will become more important in the context of the green built environment in order to show which design process, building systems and renewable technologies are more favourable than other alternatives.