Module 6: Green Building
Overview
This module will discuss aspects of green building for building owners, and green leasing for building renters. What is a green or sustainable building? It refers to design and construction practices that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environment and occupants in five broad areas:
- Sustainable site planning
- Water protection and efficiency
- Energy efficiency and renewable energy
- Conservation of materials and resources
- Indoor environmental quality
Green building is also known as sustainable building, high-performance building, or smart building.
For more information, check out the following Web links:
http://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov
Environmental Impact of Buildings
The built environment has massive direct and indirect impacts on the natural environment. The design, construction, operation, maintenance, and demolition/deconstruction of buildings require vast quantities of energy, water, and materials; these activities also produce immense quantities of waste, air and water pollution, and generate storm water runoff and create heat islands. Buildings also cultivate their own indoor environments, which present an assortment of health issues.
Commercial and residential buildings combined account for:
- 65.2 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption [1]
- >36 percent of total U.S. primary energy use [2]
- 30 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions [3]
- 136 million tons of construction and demolition waste in the U.S. (about 2.8 lbs/person/day) [4]
- 12 percent of potable U.S. water [5]
- 40 percent (3 billion tons annually) of raw-materials use globally [6]
[1] U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, March 2001, Monthly Energy Review.
[2] U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, March 2001, Monthly Energy Review.
[3] U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, “Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 1999.”
[4] U.S. EPA, 1998, “Characterization of Building-Related Construction and Demolition Debris in the United States.”
[5] U.S. Geological Service, 1995 data.
[6] Lenssen and Roodman, 1995, “Worldwatch Paper 124: A Building Revolution: How Ecology and Health Concerns are Transforming Construction,” Worldwatch Institute.