How Green is Green?

Currently, there is no guidance that enables us to evaluate the relative "greenness" of specific buildings. Consequently, "green" is rapidly becoming an environmental and marketing buzz word. For example, it is common practice for a building owner that has addressed a single issue such as the use of recycled materials during construction to claim to be "green." Moreover, this claim is indistinguishable in "greenness" from another building owner that has worked on the reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in its indoor environment. So, how green is our Green Building? Very!

The new EPA facility identified, evaluated, and integrated multiple environmentally friendly features into the design during each step of the design process. These features include energy conservation, pollution prevention, indoor air quality issues, and life cycle environmental assessment. Our comprehensive approach led to the project's inclusion in Green Building Challenge '98 , the first-ever international green building bench marking study.